


New Squidbeak Splatoon: Off Duty

by ToonThink



Series: Toon Think's Splatoon Universe [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Comedy, Gen, Thing I write when I'm bored, series of One-shots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-01-14 23:04:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 63,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18486265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToonThink/pseuds/ToonThink
Summary: The Octarians have finally decided to calm down a little, and lately, the New Squidbeak Splatoon has had nothing to do. As a result, the Agents will go through often ridiculous stories in their day-to-day lives, and Agent 8, who's decently fresh out of the Metro, must learn to get along with everyone along the way. Unfortunately for her, this includes Agent 3.





	1. The Vigilante in Town

**Author's Note:**

> Update (December 4th, 2019)- I have updated the first five chapters of this story so that Agents 3, 4, and 8 all now go by their proper names that I originally established later in the story. Also fixed some typos and mistakes, and made other small changes to account for the name changes in the process. The story is otherwise unchanged. (As a disclaimer along with this, I wanna make it clear that while Agent 8's name is a reference to Viantastic, that doesn't mean she's the same Bridgett character that appears in those videos, and that she's still her own character here)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the NSS decides to go off duty after the Octarians have calmed down, Agent 8 finds herself in a chat with Agent 3 for the first time in months.

Agent 8 laid back in her bed again, not taking her eyes off the television she was watching. It was currently 7 in the morning, and she had just woken up to turn on the small flat screen she had placed in the corner of her room. The movie that was currently on had caught her interest.

The movie, titled Holocene Park, was apparently about the Inklings having revived the humans for an amusement park on an island, before some nutjob set all the humans loose, who were now running rampage through the park. It was quite amusing to her, seeing the massive dramatized take on humans this movie had.

On the TV, an Inkling got out of a car under the night sky with a lit flare, taunting the massive cross-eyes human that stood before him.

_"Dr. Grant! Get the kids!"_ The Inkling yelled.

_"IAN, FREEZE!"_ Dr. Grant yelled in a panic.

Ian began to run away as the massive human chased him, the earth rumbling with each footstep.

_"Get rid of the fire!"_ Dr. Grant yelled at him.

Ian agreed and tossed the match aside, as the human chased him straight into a bathroom. The human stomped Ian and ran into the building, completely demolishing the building. The only thing from inside the building that remained intact was a lone Inkling, sitting on the toilet in fear.

Eight accidentally burst out laughing. This was supposed to be a serious scene, but honestly, who would believe the humans were so big and monstrous? Stupid.

Having had enough, she powered down the TV and looked around the room, trying to find something else to focus on. Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Marina walked in. "Good morning, Eight."

She looked up at her. "Um… it's Bridgett now."

"Huh?"

"I'm going by Bridgett now? I didn't like people calling me Eight all the time? We talked about this. Not like I remember my real name, but whatever, I made one up."

"Right. Sorry. It takes getting used to. Besides… I think I'll keep calling you Eight anyway. I prefer that. Anyway… you're up early."

Bridgett sat up. "Yeah, I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep, so I was watching this dumb movie."

"Was it Holocene Park I heard? I love that movie. I actually managed to illegally download that movie in the domes, so I saw it as a kid. Crazy that movie is over 25 years old, the animatronics in that movie held up phenomenally."

"Uh… yeah… whatever." Bridgett said, wondering how she enjoyed such a stupid movie. "Sounds like the kind of movie Cuttlefish would like."

"Oh, come on, this movie is way younger than him. Anyway…" She sat down on the foot of her bed, her body turned to still face Bridgett. "How have you been?"

Bridgett grabbed a paper from the small table that was by her bed. "I was gonna go out today and follow this to-do list."

"What's the list?"

Bridgett looked it over. "Let's see… One. Play Turf War. Two…"

Marina waited patiently for her to continue.

"...And that's the list."

"Oh. Well, if you are going out… Cuttlefish told me that Agent 3 is back in town. Jessica, I think her name is. You should talk to her!"

"Oh my god, Marina, no… We've been over this, I never wanna speak with Jessica again, the girl tried to kill me."

"She was brainwashed."

"So? She tried to KILL ME!"

"I think she's nice, you just need to get to know her. I mean, you know the Octarians aren't very different."

Bridgett mumbled some gibberish to herself that Marina couldn't catch. Marina ignored and continued.

"Listen…" She said, lightly touching her. "I know that you decided to live with us while you get used to Inkopolis, and I'm so happy we got the opportunity. You're like a daughter to me, Eight. And as the mother in such a relationship, I'm know that eventually you're gonna want out of here. And… I think when that time comes, Jessica will be the perfect person to tag along with."

"She's never even around, she's always going around doing the bullshit vigilante stuff."

"She'll be around more. Pearlie and I have been Agents 6 and 7 for… What was it… 6 months now? So not only do we have more Agents, the Octarians have been pretty inactive. We're kind of in a weird period of peace, so the Splatoon is… kind of off duty right now."

'Great.' Bridgett thought to herself. She really, really didn't like Jessica. Agent 4 on the other hand…

Suddenly, as if Marina read her damn mind, she blurted out. "Oh! How have things been going with Dylan?"

Bridgett tensed up. "Uh… We've been…"

"They're dating!" Pearl screamed from just outside the room. "Saw them making out the other day! I'm pretty sure she got laid too!"

Bridgett sighed. What the hell did "got laid" mean?

Marina gasped. "You're actually dating!?"

Bridgett stood up. "Please don't making such a big deal about it, it's just Dylan was… He's been a lot of help with me ever since I got out of the Metro, and…"

Pearl suddenly leaned her head in. "It's funny too, I had a dream where a bunch of people were shipping you together with Jessica instead! Can you imagine that? They called it Agent 24!"

"Uh… shipping?" Bridgett asked shyly.

"I bet people are gonna be PISSED when they see you with Dylan instead!" Pearl continued.

"Pearlie, can you not? Anyway… AH!" Marina suddenly yelled, diving toward Bridgett with a massive hug without warning. "EIGHT, I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!?"

Bridgett struggled for breath from Marina's massive hug. "Guh… Marina… you're choking me…"

Marina awkwardly let go. "Oh… uh… sorry… Alright, so, you're dating Dylan."

"Yeah… just please… don't make a big deal out of it…"

"Alright, I'm sorry it's just… I may be a popstar and all, but I'm also a big fangirl, so…"

"I don't even think the rest of the Splatoon knows."

"Not even Marie? I mean, she and Dylan are pretty close."

* * *

**The Other Day**

"Hey, Callie…" Marie said to the other room. "Just a fun fact, but I'm pretty sure Eight got laid today."

"Oh yeah? By who?"

"Dylan."

Callie could be heard dropping something, sticking her head out. "Holy shit, you serious?"

* * *

**Present Day**

"Nope. Not even Marie." Bridgett continued.

Marina hugged her again, this time making sure to not accidentally kill her. "Still, I'm so happy for you Eight. And I'll respect your privacy."

"Really?"

"Well, she will… Me on the other hand…" Pearl said with an evil grin.

"Pearlie… You tell anyone and I personally dump you into a swimming pool myself, and you will be splatted for a week. This is between us and Dylan only. Do you understand?" Marina said menacingly.

"I... Uh… Yes, ma'am…" Pearl began to walk out. "Shit, how do I delete texts again?" She muttered under her breath.

Marina turned back to Bridgett. "Well… We're in an exciting time! The Splatoon is getting off easy, you found love, you're off having fun… Maybe a little too much fun…"

"Marina…"

"Right, sorry. Alright, so if you're heading out, just make sure that yeah, Jessica is back in town. You don't have to talk to her if it makes you uncomfortable."

"It does make me uncomfortable. I mean…" She looked over to the golden toothpick she had sitting on her tabletop. "I had this really annoying dream where she tried to kill me and it was on a loop and…"

"Just know that she means well." Marina said. "And I think if you give her a chance, you two could be great friends."

'Yeah, whatever.' Bridgett thought to herself. "I think I'll just go out and Turf War for a bit… See ya Marina, I'll be back later."

"Love ya, Eight! Don't get into any squid parties!"

"Love you too."

* * *

**Inkopolis Square**

Bridgett looked around the area, backpack strung over her shoulder, sighing to herself. She just realized that… she was not in the mood to turf war. Now what?

She awkwardly walked around, looking at the Inklings and Octolings around the area. She went over to the Off the Hook studio. For once in her life, nobody was there. Shame, because of how she always liked to stop by until they noticed her through the glass and waved.

She sighed again, looking down at her to-do list. She pulled out a pen and scribbled out the word Turf War, before replacing with "sit and be bored".

There had to be something around here she could do. She could literally go back down to the Metro right now and say hi to Cuttlefish, right? No, she hated the Metro. Why Cuttlefish liked to hang around down there was beyond her.

Suddenly, she subtly heard someone approach her from behind. She looked up to the glass to just barely see the reflection of an Inkling behind her. The Inkling extended her fist to knock on the glass and get her attention. She turned around.

Jessica took off her sunglasses. "Agent 8. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Bridgett stared her down, her eyes holding some anger. For the first time she had seen, she was wearing casual clothes.

"Cuttlefish wanted me to talk to you. I was thinking I could take you out for-"

Suddenly, Bridgett punched her. Right on the nose.

She grabbed her face and stepped back a little bit. "OW! WHAT THE HELL!?"

"That's for trying to kill me in the NILS statue."

Jessica grasped her nose in pain. "I was brainwashed… I had a big fucking sanitization tumor in my head… But fine… I owed you that…"

She punched her again.

"OW! Twice!?"

"That's for trying to kill me back in Octo Valley."

"That shit was almost 3 years ago, asshole. I was just doing my job. You have some anger issues, don't you?"

"Sorry. It's just…"

Jessica sighed. "So are we… are we good now?"

They stared at each other for another few seconds. Suddenly, Bridgett punched her a third time.

"OW! What was that one for!?"

"That's because I felt like it."

"ARE WE GOOD NOW!?" Jessica said angrily, now shielding her face.

"...Yeah, fine, whatever."

Jessica put her hands down. "Ok. So. As I was saying… I was thinking I could take you out for lunch, and talk things out. Does that sound good?"

Bridgett punched her a fourth time.

* * *

**A Diner in Inkopolis**

"How's your nose?" Bridgett asked awkwardly.

"Bleeding. Thank you so much." Jessica replied sarcastically, holding a napkin over her nose. She took it off to see if the bleeding had stopped. Luckily, it had, so she wiped the remaining ink from her nose with it and then tossed it aside.

"What are you doing back in Inkopolis anyway?"

"The Octarians haven't been active, so Marie decided we only needed one eye on them. That's her. Basically, I'm off. Didn't Marina explain that to you?"

"Oh, she explained it, I'm just wondering. Why are you back in Inkopolis?"

"Where else am I supposed to go? I used to live here. Did you know that when I first moved here at age 14, I met Cuttlefish and became Agent 3 on literally my first day? So I really haven't spent too much time in the area."

"Oh, no, sucks to be you."

Jessica sighed. "Look, kid, I get that you don't like me. I'm fine with that, I don't care. I get that you're dating Dylan and that he could probably be the one taking you out to lunch right now, but…"

"Excuse me, how did you know that?"

"Everyone in the Splatoon knows. Why, was that supposed to be a secret?"

Bridgett grumbled and sat back in her chair. "God dammit, Pearl…"

"Marie, actually. The Squid Sisters are gossipy like that."

"Too shay." Callie said from a table not too far from them. She was wearing her pink beanie and black sunglasses to help with her not getting recognized in public.

"...Yeah, they're fucking everywhere and they see everything." Jessica said with an annoyed frown. "Listen. It's great that you're dating, you need to keep yourself grounded. You've been though a lot, with the whole Metro thing."

"That's an understatement. I had to help take down a fucking statue that almost destroyed Inkopolis."

"Whatever, my point is, I can also help you. I'm gonna be back in Inkopolis for another while, and I'm just trying to let you know, I mean no harm."

"...Alright. Whatever."

"So. If you ever need help with anything and Marina and Dylan aren't being any help… I'm a call away."

Bridgett was still frustrated, but decided to shrug it off. "…I'll keep that in mind. Alongside the five other Agents plus Cuttlefish I could also call in such a situation."

"...You don't like to make things easy do you?"

The waitress finally arrived with their food, setting down the plates in front of them. "Alright dears, here you are. The date special."

"Date special? We didn't order that."

"...Did you not order this with the request of titling it Agent 24? You offered to pay a lot for it."

"Agent 24? What does that even mean?" Jessica peered over to see Callie snickering to herself. "Oh. No we didn't order that, just… take it away, please."

"Well, we still gotta bill you for it, hun. That's our policy. Once the food is made, no refunds."

Jessica groaned to herself, pulling out her wallet to see if she could even afford it.

"Girls carry wallets too?" Bridgett asked curiously.

"Shut up. It's better than a fucking purse." Jessica replied, slightly angrily.

"No, no, no, it's ok, I made the order. It was just a joke. I'll pay for it." Callie said as she suddenly approached the table, digging through her purse. She turned to Bridgett."One condition though. You have tell me all about what happened the other day with you and Dylan."

"Oh my god." Bridgett said.

Jessica suddenly grabbed Callie by the arm, pulling her down. "Ow!" Callie yelled.

"Just pay for the god damn food or I will rip your breasts off." Jessica said as she pushed her back.

"Geez…" Callie said, paying the full bill. It was… very expensive. "Sorry." She turned to leave, but Jessica stopped her.

"Leave the nice waitress the biggest tip she's ever seen too."

Callie angrily pulled out more money from the purse, dumping it onto the table. "There. Happy?"

"I am." The waitress said with a big grin.

"I'm never happy." Jessica groaned and turned back to Bridgett. "Do you believe me now when I say I mean no harm?"

"...Not really, no." Bridgett replied. "Just… Where's our actual food?"

Jessica screamed out. "Yo, Callie, one more favor." They looked around, but Callie had apparently left in an angry rush already. "…Oh. Never mind, guess we gotta pay for it ourselves."

As they ordered their food again, Bridgett smirked just a little. Maybe Jessica wasn't so bad after all. "So uh…" She tried to keep their little conversation going. "Vigilante life, huh?"

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Vigilante life. I mean, you could join me for it when our break time is gone. It's pretty fun. Annoying, but fun. There's a lot of combat you get into, a lot of tricks to learn.."

"Isn't that why everyone just plays Turf War?"

"Honey, there's no real stakes in those bullshit games. If you want real thrills, you wanna go the saving the world route."

"What even have you been doing in that route that makes it so exciting?"

"Well… Let's see… Aside from battling the Octarians, I have stopped a massive criminal conspiracy, diffused a nuclear bomb, battled a criminal kingpin in a one-on-one, stopped a gang war, and then stopped some idiot anti-hero guy who liked to kill people from said gang war. I liked that last story, you've probably heard of that one on the news, the press called him the Punisher."

"...Holy shit…"

"Yeah. The Splatoon mostly focuses on the Octarians, but I decided to give myself side missions like that, with Cuttlefish's permission."

"The world really is in danger all the time, isn't it?"

"Uh huh. I probably shouldn't even be on break, but whatever, the police could've handled most of those cases themselves, I was just kinda helping. I almost got arrested from it a few times too."

"I thought you've been out of Inkopolis this whole time?"

Jessica laughed. "I was in and out. I still basically lived in Octo Valley though so really, I was still out."

Bridgett thought to herself. The vigilante life did actually sound interesting. Finally, their actual food arrived.

* * *

**That Night**

Bridgett sighed, walking along the streets of Inkopolis. She had been out the whole day, and even though she and Jessica wrapped their little lunch get together hours ago, she had just been walking about, observing the city. It was a beautiful city.

She walked along for several minutes, alongside some pretty quite streets, when she walked across some commotion that added some noise to the night. She looked into a convenience store curiously.

"Give me all the money you have! I'll splat you, I'm not kidding!" Four robbers were currently robbing the building, holding the cashier at gun point with a Charger.

"Holy shit." Bridgett said. 'A crime! Oh my god, I'm an Agent just like Jessica, should I do something?' She thought to herself. She checked around her backpack for anything she could use.

* * *

"Just put the money in the bag!" The main robber said. "You will be dead so fast you wouldn't be able to tell what hit you!"

"Alright!" The owner, in his mush-cut hairstyle, said. "There's no need for violence, alright? Look, the money's all yours!" He began obeying as he placed money coin-by-coin from the cashier into the bag.

"Move faster! We gotta go!" The robber yelled angrily.

Suddenly, they heard a little "ding-dong" as the door opened and closed. One of the robbers turned his charger to the intruder.

"Hey, assholes." Bridgett said, Octoshot in hand.

"Get out of here, you little girl, you don't wanna mess with us!" The robber who was threatening her said. "Just leave now and no one gets hurt."

Bridgett just looked at them. "I mean… I've dealt with worse than you…"

"Like what?"

"Like the deepsea metro. Like a statue that almost destroyed the city."

The robber laughed. "What kind of stupid fantasy is that?"

Wow, no one in the public really believed that the shit she had to go through was very real. "Alright, you asked for it…" She said with a sigh.

The robber fired the charger, and Bridgett barely dodged. She grabbed the charger from his hand, hitting him in the face with it. She then kneed it, breaking it in half, before throwing the two halves to the side.

"Crazy bitch!" The other robbers said, turning on her.

She pulled out her Octoshot, and the two sides began to fire at each other.

The robber awkwardly called 911, waiting for them to respond. "Uh yeah…" He said into the phone. "I'm being robbed and this crazy ninja girl is going around beating up all the robbers…"

In a matter of like 30 seconds, all of the robbers were splatted, Bridgett standing in the middle of the chaos unharmed. She eyed a couple donut bags sitting on a shelf, which she pulled out and silently gave them to the cashier, along with some money.

"Hi. Sorry for the mess. I'll just take the donuts and go."

The cashier raised his eyebrows and awkwardly checked out the donuts, accepted the cash. "So, uh… what am I supposed to tell the police when they get here?"

"Tell them just how badass of a cashier you are." She said with a smile, taking the donuts and walking out of the store.

The cashier stared in awe for a few seconds. "…Thank you…" He said out loud as if Bridgett could hear him, despite the fact she was already gone.

'That was fun.' Bridgett thought to herself as she began walking back in the direction of Marina's house. Maybe she had a future living such a life.


	2. NSS Factopedia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team holds a meeting about the NSS factopedia.

Dylan sighed, taking off his sweaty Grizzco gear in the Grizzco Industries building, preparing to leave for the day.

_"Not bad today, kid."_ Mr. Grizz said through the bear statue.  _"Couple of crew wipes, and too few eggs as usual, but nothing some overtime can't fix."_

"Can't, Mr. Grizz. I have other work to get to." Dylan replied frustratingly. He hated this job, and didn't even remember why he took it in the first place.

_"The Salmonids are still active, kid. I doubt that your other job is as important, so some overtime wouldn't hurt anybody."_

"Oh believe me, you have no idea how important my other job is..." Dylan continued, finally slipping out of the last of his gear, back to his normal clothes underneath. Just like every other time he wore that thing, he came out of it pretty sweaty.

_"Nothing is as important as Salmonid hunting, kid. Salmonids are dangerous, they can take down Inkopolis in a single night if they remain left alone."_

"Yeah, I doubt they're as threatening as other shit I've dealt with." Dylan put on his jacket, preparing to leave. "Also, you have other workers to send, do you not?"

_"Damn kids just don't understand how good overtime is for you. All you kids about your damn turf war and whatever. Hey, I bet that's your other 'job'. Go turf waring much? Would you rather turf war than work a couple hours of overtime just to please me?"_

"That's not what I'm doing, but I would actually rather do that."

_"You've never worked a single minute of overtime in your life, have you? Because you think you're so important, while the Salmonids run amok you'd rather sit in Inkopolis and do nothing. Well I smell through that bullshit, kid, it doesn't work that way for me. Either you suck it up and come in for some overtime or I will make your next shift hell."_

Dylan sighed, before going toward where the bear statue was plugged in.

_"Let's just go over the facts here. I am older than you, I am more experienced than you, I am more mature than you, and what are you doing? You better not unplug my statue!"_

"See you next week, Mr. Grizz. Have a good rest of your day." Dylan said as he unplugged the statue.

Conveniently, his other work was literally right next to the Grizzco Building, or at least the entrance was. He left the building, and then without hesitating, used his squid form to plop right into the nearby storm drain.

* * *

**Octo Canyon**

Dylan came out the other end from the sewer, plopping out near Cuttlefish Cabin. He had already changed into his Hero Gear. "Hello, ladies."

Callie and Marie were sitting by the cabin as usual, chatting away with each other. They stopped when they heard Dylan make his entrance.

"Hey, Four. Uh… What are you doing here?" Marie said curiously.

"Work. What did you think I was doing?"

Callie snickered. "Marie, I don't think he got the memo."

"What memo?"

"I swear, Four misses everything." Marie said with a smirk. "You're off duty. The Octarians haven't been active. I'm the only one who's working, and all I'm doing is keeping a corner of my eye on them to make sure they're not hiding something."

"What?" Dylan said as if that was a bad thing. "I crawled through the sewer as always to get here, and I'm gonna do work."

"Hey, it's not my fault you crawled through the sewer. You choose to do that."

"What do you mean I choose to do that? It's my job to crawl through that thing."

"Well, we don't have any work for you, but… You're always free to come hang out with us for a bit."

"We were gonna go out for coffee." Callie said. "Wanna come?"

"Every time I attempt to hang out with you, you fall silent after a couple minutes until I leave." Dylan said, a little bit annoyed.

Callie thought to herself. "…Huh. We do indeed do that, don't we?"

"Yeah, I guess we do." Marie said. "Sorry, Four. We just get awkward when it's not just the two of us."

"This is bullshit." Dylan said, turning to leave. "I'm gonna… go play Turf War or something, I don't know."

"Or go hang out with Bridgett?" Callie added.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Maybe you'll get laid again."

Dylan stopped and turned back around. "…How did you know about that?"

"Everyone knows, Four." Marie said.

"Even Jessica." Callie added.

"And now Seven, I think. My fault though, we're just… a little gossipy like that."

Dylan rubbed his face with his palm. "You guys are still watching me, aren't you?"

"Yep. Agent 4 Factopedia." Marie said with a grin. "I'm still working on it. Don't feel bad though. We watch all the NSS members."

"Ok, that's all fine and good, but why do you keep a factopedia of just me, anyway?"

"What made you think it's just you? I have a different factopedia for every Agent, even myself. When they're grouped together, I call them the NSS Factopedia."

Callie turned to her, her smile fading. "Wait… everyone?"

"Yep."

"Including… me…?"

"Yep."

"Wait… How long as this been going on?"

"Ever since we became Agents 1 and 2."

Callie's eyes widened. "You don't… keep a list of all the guys I've slept with, do you?"

Marie nodded. "Including Jerry."

Callie's eyes widened further. "Not Jerry."

"Yes Jerry."

As Callie grew red, Dylan just stared in confusion. "…Alright, we get it, you like stalking people."

Marie smiled. "I don't call it stalking, I call it work."

"How is that work?"

"It's a good idea to keep a careful eye on all Agents of the Splatoon. Especially Bridgett. You never know when she might betray us for the Octarians…"

"Oh come on, Bridgett wouldn't betray us."

"Well, yeah, as long as she's getting laid I'm sure we're fine." Callie interjected.

"When do you even find time for all this? Aren't you a double agent popstar with a million things to do already?"

"I always find time in my schedule to do some watching around." Marie said with an almost menacing stare.

"Uh… yeah…" Dylan stared at her, partially concerned. "And how many people know about this?"

* * *

"She keeps a what? Of all of us?" Bridgett said into the phone, sitting in her room.

_"Yeah. I have the copy of the Agent 8 factopedia right here. And the Agent 7 factopedia. And the Agent 6 factopedia…"_ Dylan said on the other line.  _"I'm not gonna lie, these are actually pretty interesting. Did you know that Pearl likes to sing in the shower?"_

Bridgett dropped the pen she was holding. "How does Marie know that!? Is she breaking into our houses!?"

_"Wait… I don't know. She… Marie? Are you breaking into our houses?"_

Bridgett could faintly hear Marie in the background, but couldn't tell what she was saying. She was, however, pretty sure she could hear both the Squid Sisters laughing.

_"Uh… She says she at least has some respect for privacy, so no, she hasn't been into anyone's houses without permission."_

"Respect for privacy my ass… Hold on, I'll talk to you later." Bridgett said as she hung up, going into the other room. Pearl and Marina were sitting around their nice dining room table, chatting away and laughing over… dumb gossip stuff that Bridgett didn't understand.

"Hey, guys?" Bridgett said, shyly walking in.

"Oh, hey Eight." Marina replied, her face beaming as it always did when she greeted her. "Wassup?"

"Uh… did you know that Marie keeps factopedias of all of us? Like, she watches us all the time and then logs fun facts about us?"

Marina's smiled dropped awkwardly, as she brushed her hair as she always did when she was nervous. "Uh… nope. Can't say I have…"

"Oh yeah?" Pearl said. "Including me?"

"Including you." Bridgett replied.

"Nice!" Pearl suddenly exclaimed, as all eyes in the room turned on her in surprise. She grabbed her glass she was drinking from. "What does it say?"

"That you like to sing in the shower."

Suddenly, Pearl spit her drink out. "What!? How do you know that!?"

"I just told you, it's in the factopedia."

"Ok, how does Marie know that!? Did she break into our house!?"

"According to Dylan, she's not. I mean… Might wanna check the closets though."

Marina suddenly burst out laughing. "Haha, ok, ok, ok, no more secrets. You got me."

Both of them turned back to Marina, squinting their eyes.

"It's not just Marie. I've been helping her with them ever since I joined the Splatoon."

"You what!?" Pearl said angrily. "You logged that I sing in the shower!?"

"Pearlie, there's nothing wrong with singing in the shower… It's just… Quirky." She said with a fake smile.

"AND YOU LOGGED IT!?"

"Well…"

"Now that I think about it you do sing kind of loudly…" Bridgett added awkwardly. "And you swear a lot too…"

"I mean, I've put embarrassing stuff in my own factopedia so it's not like I only did it just to embarrass you." Marina assured, touching Pearl's shoulder. "…Although I will admit I logged that specifically just to embarrass you." She suddenly laughed. "You're so cute when you get embarrassed!"

"...I hate you guys…" Pearl sighed, slouching a bit in the chair.

"I love you, Pearlie." Marina said.

Pearl suddenly shot out of her chair with a massive smile and hugged her. "Aww I love you too, Marina." She pulled out her phone, preparing to take a selfie of the two of them. "It is my duty as Agent 6 to take pictures of friendship building moments like these! Say don't get cooked!"

Snap! The picture she took popped up on the screen quickly, where Marina had a way too big cheesy smile, and Pearl's eyes weren't even open.

"I will treasure this photo forever!" Pearl then suddenly kissed her on the cheek.

Marina corrected her headphones and gave her own small smile. "Heh… Sometimes I wonder if you have a genuine bipolar disorder."

"I wouldn't be surprised!" Pearl screamed out.

"Yeah, there's the Pearl we all know and love." Bridgett said, who was awkwardly watching the whole thing. Suddenly, her phone rang, and she answered. "Hello?"

_"Uh, yeah, Marie wanted me to tell you that now she's coming over to your house. And by her, I mean… the entire Splatoon."_ Dylan said on the other line.

"What?"

_"I don't know, she just randomly called a meeting and then yelled out 'LET'S HOLD IT AT MARINA'S HOUSE!'"_

"Um… ok…" Bridgett sighed. "I'm guessing that we have no say in the matter."

_"Nope."_ Marie could be heard saying on the other end.

* * *

**That Night**

The entire Splatoon, with the exception of Cap'n Cuttlefish, was now gathered in the living room of the Off the Hook residence. While Marina was in the kitchen preparing snacks, everyone was sitting in their own spots, with Bridgett and Dylan sitting together.

Marina entered the room with a plate of cookies, which she set on the coffee table. She didn't look too happy. "We're never doing this at my house again."

Marie smiled. "Oh, come on, I've never been here so I wanted to check it out." She stood up. "Hello, New Squidbeak Splatoon. Thank you all for joining us today."

Sheldon suddenly hopped up onto the table, saluting. "This is Agent 5, reporting for duty!"

"...Thank you, Sheldon, you… didn't need to salute."

His salute only intensified. "But I'm showing my respect."

Marina looked at her watch. "You have 5 seconds to get off the table."

"Why? What are you gonna do, eat me?"

"5. 4. 3. 2…:" She counted down.

Sheldon quickly jumped off with a scream. "I'm sorry, won't happen again."

Marina fake smiled. "Better not."

"...Anyway." Marie continued. "Gramps isn't here at the moment, but I called the meeting anyway, and I just wanna say thank you all for coming. Um… I called you all here today for a very important reason."

"What's wrong? Are the Octarians active again?" Jessica asked with concern.

"No, don't worry, we're still as free as birds. But…" She hesitated. "I just wanted to announce that Marina and I have been keeping an eye on all of you and logging potentially embarrassing secrets for each of you in something I call the NSS factopedia." She suddenly blurted out. "…Sorry about that."

"Uh… what?" Sheldon gasped.

Marina leaned down and hid her face in her legs, covering her head, attempting and failing to avoid attention. "God fucking-" She muttered.

"...This is what you called the meeting for?" Jessica nearly screamed.

"I uh…" Marie started. "Look, this has been going on ever since the Splatoon started, and only Callie and Dylan knew until today, so… I felt bad?"

Jessica abruptly stood up, taking the plate of cookies with her and walking over the door. "Fuck this, I'm gonna go beat up some criminals or something…" She opened the door and stepped outside, taking the cookies with her.

"...Guess she's not getting overtime." Marie sighed.

Marina suddenly jolted up. "Did I hear her take the cookies? I spent half an hour on those!"

Pearl stood up. "Don't worry friend, I got this!" She ran to the door and slammed it open. "You there! Cookie monster!"

"Fuck you!" Jessica could be heard subtly from a bit of a distance.

"Who the hell do you think you are!?" Pearl yelled, giving chase.

Everyone in the living room sat still, listening to the chaos, able to just barely hear them both running away. "Oh, Pearlie…" Marina sighed.

"...Ok, so what exactly is logged in this factopedia?" Bridgett spoke up.

Marie pulled out her phone. "Let's see. For you, Bridgett? Let's see how your turf war stats are for dualies. …Ok, this is interesting. You use the Dualie Squelchers the most. Like, so much, I don't think you've even touched another pair of dualies."

"...That's kinda creepy…"

"And you perform an average of 0 dodge rolls a minute."

The entire room turned to look at Bridgett as if she committed a crime.

Bridgett chuckled a bit just to relieve the tension. "Uh… is that less than it should be?"

Callie suddenly took the phone from Marie. "Haha! This is fun! I'm gonna read them out now!"

Marie sighed in annoyance.

"Let's see… This one is going out to you, Four! According to Marie's Agent 4 Factopedia… Woah…"

"What?" Dylan asked.

"...You apparently fell into the water over 20 times in a single match? Is that… is that even possible?"

Multiple people accidentally bursted out laughing, including Bridgett.

Dylan frowned. "It was… in Skipper Pavilion… I… really don't like that place…"

"How did you fall 20 times and not learn to not fall in!?"

"Ok, that stage is very weirdly set up, alright!? It's easy to make a leap, assume you're fine, and then next thing you know, you're suddenly falling directly into water!"

"Still though… over 20 times!?"

Marie began chuckling herself. "You're such an idiot, Four. How did you out of all people get to be Agent 4?"

"Because you recruited me!"

"Heh… Yeah I did…" Marie sighed, sitting down. "Despite your flaws though, if it makes you feel any better, I don't regret it being you. I just kind of… wish I found someone more handsome. Ya know?"

"...Thanks?"

Bridgett chuckled again. "…Over 20 times, huh?"

Dylan rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, Jessica was thrown back in the room through the entrance, her hands tied behind her back, and her forehead a little bit bruised. Pearl came walking back in, cookie in hand.

Jessica rolled onto her side so that she was facing the group, who were all staring at her awkwardly. "…I want a raise."

"You say that as if you get paid." Marie said.

"...Where are all the cookies?" Marina asked.

"...Oh. Yeah. They're gone. They all spilled when I tackled Jessica and then choked her." Pearl asked

"You choked her!?"

"Yep." Pearl bit into her cookie. "Anyone want a cookie?"

* * *

They sat around for another little while, just socializing, laughing together, and discussing the factopedia. Everyone in the room got embarrassed at least once. Eventually, they concluded their little "meeting", and prepared to leave.

Jessica sat in the corner of the room, holding an ice pack to her forehead, grumbling to herself.

Bridgett walked over to her awkwardly. "…How's your throat?"

"I want to die." Jessica grumbled.

Bridgett sat down next to her. "It was nice seeing you today. Gotta admit."

Jessica just ever so slightly smiled, but it was so quick you couldn't really notice it if you blinked. "…Thanks. You too."

Bridgett nodded. "Just so you know, I did kind of think about your offer.'

"I know you did."

"Excuse me?"

"I know about the convenience store incident."

"How did you-?"

"Marie and Marina aren't the only ones who keeps tabs on all the Agents." She smiled a bit more obviously.

"...Oh, you piece of-."

"Relax. I haven't told anybody. I get that you don't want people worried about your safety or whatever."

"Um… thanks?"

"You're welcome, my new friend." Jessica said, standing up.

"...Please don't call me friend."

"See you around, Bridge. Don't let the Pearl bitch push you around." Jessica headed for exit, silently leaving.

Bridgett sat by herself for a moment, when Dylan suddenly sat down next to her. "I see you two are getting along well."

Bridgett decided to lie herself out of it. "Um… what do you mean? We hate each other. We're always arguing and… I could choke her, I really really could."

"Why are you so determined to keep your liking to her a secret? Is there some sort of unwritten rule that says you two have to be enemies?"

Bridgett didn't respond.

Dylan sighed. "Whatever. I'll leave that to you then. See ya." He pecked her on the lips and began to leave.

"...See ya."


	3. Salmon Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bridgett and Jessica find themselves covering for Dylan for a shift at Grizzco Industries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up: There's some transgender jokes in this one, but I just wanted to make sure you know they're not meant as an attack to any trans people. If anything in this bothers you personally, let me know and I'll fix it.

"We got an order for table 12! ASAP!" The cashier yelled.

Dylan ran into action. Ever since he heard about the Splatoon going off duty, he stupidely decided to get a third part time job at the Krusty Shack. Worst mistake he had ever made. For some reason, this restaurant was very busy, like, all the time, so he never really caught a break. He was the waiter now, and was the one who had to run around, all day, to make sure all the Inklings that came in got their meal on time. He grabbed the prepared meal and dashed to table 12.

"Order… for… table 12…" He gasped, out of breath, slamming down the food to the lovely family that was sitting there, almost dropping it on the floor. "Thanks you… for coming to… oh god my side…" He said, grabbing his now burning side. "Thank you for coming to the Krusty Shack. Enjoy the rest of your day…"

One of the little squids eyed his food, which was slightly ruined because of how Dylan slammed it down. "…You suck!"

"Old man!" Another one of the little squids said.

A third squid suddenly shot out a spitball at his eye with his straw. Dylan grunted and grabbed his eye, before leaving the table. Suddenly, his phone began ringing. He briefly excused himself to the corner of the building by the bathrooms in order to see who the caller was. He grunted again when he saw Marie's name and profile picture. He answered.

"Hello?"

_"Hey, Four, can you come in to work?"_

Dylan grunted a third time, even louder this time. "Are you kidding me!? I thought you said the Octarians are inactive!"

_"Oh, don't worry, this ain't that. It's still pretty important though."_

Dylan wanted to ram his head into the wall. "What is it!?"

_"...My toilet is clogged."_

Dylan abruptly hung up with yet another grunt. He was gonna grunt as much as he wanted.

"We got an order for table 20! ASAP!" The cashier yelled again.

"Fuck!" Dylan said, when much to his dismay, his phone began ringing again. He prepared to give Marie a piece of his mind, but apparently, it was actually Mr. Grizz calling this time. "Shit." He answered in a hurry. "Hello?" He said faster than usual.

_"Hey, kid, excellent timing. I need you to come in to work."_

This time, Dylan did slam his head against the wall, directing some attention toward him. "I can't! I'm already in work, and I got a bunch of orders to fill! And they keep coming in, too!"

_"The Salmonids are active, kid, we need to send in a team ASAP or they're gonna stir up trouble."_

Dylan began to grunt somewhere inbetween a whisper and a yell a series of angry, racial, and sexist swears that were usually outside his vocabulary. Now the entire restaurant was staring at him.

_"Sorry, kid, but work is work. And this is important work at that."_ Mr. Grizz seemed entirely unphased from the horrible things that just crossed Dylan's mouth.

"Look! I need to call in a sick day for this one!"

_"You know the deal about sick days, kid. You need someone to cover for you. As a matter of fact… today I would appreciate two people covering for you. Busy day."_

"Damn right it's a busy day! …Fine! Fine! I'll make a couple calls when I get a break!"

* * *

**An Hour Later**

**Inkopolis Square**

"Why did he call us specifically?" Bridgett asked, staring through the window into the Off the Hook studio, where Pearl and Marina would usually be sitting.

"Because he hates us." Jessica sighed behind her, waiting for her to stop goofing around the square. "Come on, the Grizzco building is right over there."

"I've never even seen the Salmonids in person, and Dylan just expects me to go over to them and collect their slimy little eggs because he's busy?"

"I've never worked for Grizzco either, so we'll learn together. He called us because he knows we have the skills to handle it."

"This is bullshit."

Jessica briefly smiled. "Something tells me my personality is rubbing off on you."

"Something tells me this is a bad idea and that we should just go home."

"Well, you're not wrong. Come on, Dylan asked for a favor, and you don't wanna disappoint your boyfriend, now do you?"

Bridgett grumbled and the two walked over to the Grizzco building, anxiously walking inside. The bear statue that was sitting in the room buzzed to life.

_"Welcome to Grizzco Industries, my name is Mr. Grizz."_

"Really? Mr.? All I see is a bear statue." Jessica remarked.

_"This statue is just a radio through which I can speak. My true identity and location is classified for the public, even for people who work for me."_

"That sounds like you could be a secret agent, which would be cool, but you give me more vibes of a fat pedophile who hangs out in his basement all day."

_"How did she… Whatever. Let me start over. My name is Mr. Grizz. Have you come to work for us today?"_

"We've come here to fill in for Dylan Schultz."

_"Ah, yes, the kid. I've been expecting you…"_

"...This bear statue is creeping me out..." Bridgett muttered.

"So how does this work?" Jessica sighed.

_"Plain and simply, you work for me for just the day to fill in for Schultz. He's told me you already got the skills to take on the Salmonids so I'm not gonna bother giving you the tutorial. Your job is to collect as many eggs from the Salmonids as possible, whatever it takes."_

"...What are we collecting eggs for?" Bridgett asked.

_"Doesn't matter."_

"Sketchy ass pedo." Jessica said, walking up. "Alright. We'll do it. Whatever. When do we start?"

* * *

**Later**

"Ok, this outfit is driving me insane."Jessica said, awkwardly standing in the sweaty Grizzco gear next to Bridgett. The two were currently on a boat which was travelling through murky water to their destination: Spawning Grounds.

_"We'll start you nice and easy with the Spawning Grounds."_ Mr. Grizz said through their com system.  _"The Salmonids are extra active today, so watch your backs. Busy day today, after all."_

"So what do you do when people get killed in this job?" Jessica asked curiously.

_"Well… Your outfit has a built in life preserver for if you get splatted, since there's no spawn point or nothing. But if you straight up die, then uh…"_

Jessica raised an eyebrow in anticipation.

_"...Never really thought about it, really. I'd probably just hide the body, cover it up, make sure no one ever ever finds out. You know. The usual."_

"This isn't a legal corporation, is it?"

_"Not really, no. Your destination is still a few minutes out, hold on tight."_

Jessica sighed and turned to Bridgett. "Honestly, you were right. We should've just gone home and let Dylan bite the bullet."

"You couldn't have decided that earlier?" Bridgett asked frustratingly. "This outfit is making me sweat ink. Anyway, uh…" She looked over to the two other male Inklings who were on the boat with them. "That's our team?"

"I assume." She turned to them and began to call out to them. "Yo, Thing 1 and Thing 2, come over here!"

The other Inklings stopped what they were doing and walked up to Jessica. "What up?"

Everyone gathered around like they were in a meeting. Jessica continued. "I was just thinking we should get to know each other before we risk our lives for a few slimy eggs. You know, since strategy is key and whatever, and we need teamwork to make said strategy work… You know, all that annoying stuff."

The Inkling with a hipster haircut extended his arm. "Hey. I'm Scooch."

Jessica ignored it. "…Is that your real name?"

"No. But I go by Scooch. What's your name?"

She decided to keep her real name secret as well. "Three."

"...You do realize that also sounds weird, right?"

"At least mine doesn't sound gender swapped."

Bridgett briefly smiled and held up her hand. "I'm Eight."

"...So you guys just have a thing for numbers for names?"

"Well, I mean…" Jessica turned around to Bridgett. "…What is your name? Like, your real name?"

Bridgett shrugged. "No idea. Don't remember."

Jessica shrugged as well and then turned to the other Inkling. "Thing 2. What's your name?"

The boat fell silent as they realized the other Inkling looked kind of queasy. "I don't… I don't feel so good…"

Jessica nodded. "Good answer. Nice to meet you, I don't feel so good."

Suddenly, the Inkling walked forward latching onto Jessica in a hug. "I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go. Grizz, please. Please, I don't wanna go to the island, please. I don't wanna work."

"Get off me!" Jessica yelled as she kneeled down and laid him on the ground. "What the hell is your problem?"

The Inkling stared up into the sky as if he was dying and he knew it, before he turned to Jessica. "…I'm sorry." Then, he slowly evaporated, disappearing from the boat.

"God fucking…" Jessica grunted.

_"What happened?"_

"We already have a disconnect. Dipshit didn't feel good and decided it was a better idea to evaporate himself and go home."

_"Well, shit. The Salmonids are extra aggressive today, so I don't know if you can hold your ground with a team of three. I'm not gonna lie… you're in trouble."_ _  
_ _  
_"…So what do we do?" Bridgett asked.

_"Fight for your lives. Fight as if the universe is about to fucking collapse in on itself and you're the last person who can save it."_

"...Sounds dramatic."

_"It is dramatic, kid. If the Salmonids aren't handled, they can overtake Inkopolis in a single night."_

"If that's the purpose of this job, then what the hell is the egg objective for?" Jessica asked.

_"...I have my reasons. You're at your destination. Good luck."_

* * *

The group grabbed their weapons and super jumped to the island of the Spawning Grounds. Upon landing, they quickly assumed their humanoid forms and then took to exploring the island, getting to know the environment. An egg basket rose from the ground, securing itself on a platform.

_"The egg basket is ready and waiting."_ Mr. Grizz said.

The three stood around, waiting for their objective to start. "…Alright, so I have a plan." Jessica announced. "Pretty simple. We let them come to us, and then we talk them into giving us the eggs that we need. We don't really wanna dance with these guys here because I have a feeling they'll maul us to pieces."

Scooch snickered a little. "Dude. Is this your first salmon run?"

"Yes." Bridgett said. "We're just filling in for a friend."

"Why, you think you're so wise, huh? Go salmon running much?" Jessica said, a little frustrated.

"Yeah?" Scooch replied.

"Yeah what?"

"Just yeah?"

"Why did you say yeah as if it was a question?"

Before Scooch could respond, Bridgett continued. "What do you think we should do? Do you have a plan?"

Scooch sighed. "There's no plan, barely even a strategy. Just plain and simply, you shoot anything that moves, and then some boss dudes come out, you kill those guys and you get their golden eggs. If we don't meet the golden egg quota, Grizz is gonna chew us out."

Jessica nodded her head. "I swear, there's something off about you…"

"Yeah?"

"You just seem so… feminine… If it wasn't for the hair I would've thought you were a girl."

"Yeah…"

"And is 'yeah' all you say!?"

Bridgett grabbed Jessica's arm. "Listen, I think we need to just focus on the Salmonids, they're gonna be coming in any moment."

"Alright. I agree. We're going with my plan."

"Wow." Scooch said, rolling his eyes in the background.

"We don't really wanna get into a fight here, do you understand? We're just gonna get the eggs and get out of here, and then we all go home so that Dylan can continue doing the job himself."

"What exactly do you guys usually do anyway?"

Bridgett smiled like a badass. "Kick names, take ass."

Jessica rolled her eyes and turned away from Scooch to hide her embarrassment. Scooch, meanwhile, felt like he was losing braincells as he stared at Bridgett in disbelief. "...Ok. Just, uh… We're gonna get ourselves killed."

"Good." Jessica sighed. "Dude, don't worry about it. We've seen and been through shit that you wouldn't even understand. Frankly I'm willing to guess that we have more experience than you."

"She's right." Bridgett said.

"Geez…" Scooch sighed, turning around to contemplate the situation.

Then, a horn suddenly sounded, and the area seemed to darkness, the atmosphere intensifying. The group prepared their weapons as they looked around.

"This is it…" Bridgett sighed.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Come on, Bridge, don't be a vagina. We'll do this quickly. Just make sure you hold your fire and I'll handle this."

"Hold our fire!? Are you serious!?" Scooch said angrily.

"Yes! Follow my lead!"

An army of Salmonids began to approach, coming up from the water like zombies. "All the little squids with the pumped up kicks, you'd better run, better run, outrun our lunch." They sang in a chorus. "All the little squids with the pumped up kicks, you'd better run, better run, faster than our inkage."

The Salmonids all marched up to the group, but when they saw that the trio was not acting hostile, they stopped and stood in a line before them. A single massive Cohock stepped forward.

"Hear me, and rejoice! You are about to die at the hands of the Salmonids!" He said in his deep voice. "Unless, of course, you decide to flee! We are willing to spare you if you do not act hostile toward us! This is your last chance! Flee, or die!"

"They seem extra organized today. Usually they just act like mindless monsters." Scooch added.

Jessica herself stepped forward, lowering her weapon. "Uh, hey guys. Listen. I'm sure you've dealt with Grizzco a ton and all, and I've had a long day so far today, so… I was hoping we could just make this easier on all of us."

The Cohock's eye raised as if he was raising an eyebrow.

"We need your eggs. We'll just take them, leave, and no one gets hurt. Sounds good?"

They stared at each other for several seconds in silence.

* * *

Jessica soon found herself face-down in the air, tied to a horizontal pole that was held by two Cohocks. "You guys really don't wanna do this!"

"Shut up!" One of them yelled.

Bridgett and Scooch were also tied up, were sitting next to the egg backet, guarded by two Chums.

"I tried to warn you this was a bad idea." Scooch sighed.

The Salmonids were all dancing and singing around in celebration. "Squid scum!" Some of them yelled.

The two Cohocks that were holding Jessica brought her over to where some Chums were placing wood for a fireplace.

"Oh my god, they're gonna cook her…" Bridgett gasped.

"Don't worry, it's not like they're gonna eat her. They're just pyromaniacs at times." Scooch said. "But yeah, uh, they're gonna cook her."

Jessica was starting to get desperate when she saw the the wood. "Ok ok ok, guys, it's not too late to give second thoughts into this! What are you gonna gain from eating me!?"

"Shut up, Squid scum!"

Jessica struggled against her ropes. "I really don't wanna die as a fucking squid kebob! Let me outta here! Bridge! A little help!?"

Bridgett struggled against her ropes as well. "What the hell do you expect ME to do!?"

"God fucking…!" Jessica struggled against the ropes with all her might.

Suddenly, a small chum carrying a lit torch walked up to her. His voice was cartoonishly high pitched. "Behold! The great torch of the Salmonids!"

The Salmonids all cheered.

"Today is the day that we show the Squid scum that we do not want their kind here! Today is the day we stand together and declare in one voice that we will no longer let them steal our eggs! We will BURN their society down to the flaming rocks of hell itself!"

More cheers.

The young chum turned to Jessica, who was still struggling against her ropes.

"You light that wood on fire, and I'm gonna be the one who eats YOU for dinner you little shit!" Jessica yelled.

The young chum looked at her with a strangely adorable smile, preparing to light the wood on fire. "Young Inkling. May the Devil show absolutely no mercy on your soul! May you suffer for the rest of your miserable spirits existence!"

Jessica groaned. "I am never working another Salmon Run again…"

As the Chum prepared to light the wood, some kind of figure suddenly leaped in from a super jump, silencing the area.

"What…?" Jessica muttered.

Dylan popped up from the ink, assuming his humanoid form, already wearing his Grizzco outfit. He quickly fired at and splatted the young chum. "Really? 'Hold your fire?' What are you, 5 years old?"

"Hi, Dylan!" Bridgett said eagerly.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" Jessica yelled. "We had this handled!"

"Well, I got fired from my other job for saying some horrible stuff in the presence of children, and then Mr. Grizz was calling me again and telling me that you guys were in trouble. So, I hurried over." He began to fight back at the incoming Salmonids, not allowing anyone to get close. "Also, like hell you had this handled…"

He fought off the Salmonids for a little bit until they were at least somewhat safe, and he then went over to untie the team. As soon as he untied Jessica, she suddenly slapped him.

"Ow…" Dylan muttered, grabbing his cheek.

"That's for existing." Jessica sighed.

"Slap her back. I've been wanting to ever since I met her." Scooch said with a smirk.

Dylan turned around to face him. "Uh… hi, stranger. Who's this?"

"Call me Scooch."

"Scooch…" He turned back to Jessica. "He's a trans female, isn't he?"

Bridgett eyed Scooch. "I mean… I thought about that, but I didn't wanna say anything."

Jessica rolled her eyes, sarcastically patting Dylan on the shoulder. "I'd bet money that YOU'RE a trans female, you uncultured idiot." She let go of his shoulder and stepped away from him.

"...Ouch." Dylan sighed to himself.

"Alright, new plan." Jessica continued. "We're fighting these motherfuckers and we're taking their eggs from them."

"That's how you're supposed to approach Salmon Run already, asshole. Not talk your way out of it."

"Shut up. At the time it was the better plan."

"No it wasn't!"

More Salmonids began to approach, and more horns began to go off, signifying the approach of bosses.

"Nice job. Well, we have job to finish up here, so let's- GAH!" Scooch was suddenly interrupted as a Maws came up through the ground directly beneath him, launching him up into the air, and splatting him instantly with a massive bite.

"Ouch." Dylan said. "Well… I hope you all watched Jaws when you were younger."

"How do you know all these pop culture references but not know who the Squid Sisters are?" Jessica asked.

"I mean, I know who they are now."

"You didn't when you were recruited."

"Fair point."

A life preserver emerged from the ink before them, and Scooch's voice could be faintly heard. "WHO. FUCKED. WITH. MY. SQUID SISTERS!?"

Dylan prepared to revive him, but Jessica grabbed his arm. "Eh, leave the kid there. I'm sure he'll be fine."

The Salmonids once again lined up in front of them, and the three Agents grouped together in defense.

"Hear us, and rejoice!" Another small high-pitched Chum spoke up. "You have had the privilege of being spared by the great Salmonids! But while we have spared you once, you are about to die by the hands of the Salmonids. You may think this is suffering. No… It is salvation! The universal scales tip toward balance because your sacrifice!"

"God, these guys are losers…" Jessica mumbled.

"Smile… For even in death, you have become children of the Salmon!"

"Hey, thanks for the pep talk, guys, but uh, we'd rather stay alive." Bridgett said with a bit of a sarcastic smile. "We'll just uh… kick your asses, take your eggs, and be on our way."

"Do not think that you can test us! We are… inevitable!"

Bridgett put on her angry face. "And we… are…" She paused, realizing that she had no good comeback whatsoever. "…hungry." She concluded.

The chum sighed. "So be it."

Jessica looked at both Dylan and Bridgett, who were standing behind her, and then turned back to the Salmonids. "New Squidbeak Splatoon! …Assemble."

The trio let out a war cry, as they charged into the army.

* * *

**One Crew Wipe Later**

**Grizzco Industries Building**

"Well that fucking sucked…" Jessica sighed, looking at her cuts she sustained during battle, having already taken off her outfit. She was sitting by the bear statue near Bridgett and Scooch. "I'm in pain now…"

"This is what happens when you don't revive me." Scooch said. Nevertheless, he extended his hand. "It was nice meeting you, yeah?"

Jessica rolled her eyes and accepted. "Yeah, uh… what gender are you exactly…?"

He decided not to respond, heading for the exit. "Ha. Well, I'm gonna go home and write some of my Squid Sisters fanfiction."

"...You write Squid Sisters fanfiction?" Bridgett asked curiously, holding an ice pack to her head.

"Yep. Later." Scooch waved behind his back and then headed out to Inkopolis Square, leaving their vision.

"Oh my god, he's definitely a trans female… He looks like a cross dresser..." Jessica said, staring.

After another minute, Jessica and Bridgett also left out to the square into the night time air. Dylan was already there, talking to Marina and Pearl, who were standing outside their studio.

"I don't understand, what do you mean you designed Octo Shower?" Dylan asked, slightly angrily.

"I'm sorry, Dylan, it was just a project I goofed off with when I was Octarian, ya know?" Marina replied.

"Do you know how much trouble that thing gave me!?"

"Don't be a vagina, Dylan, Marina designed all the great Octoweapons." Jessica said, walking up to them. Bridgett walked past her and went in to hug Marina real quick.

"Hi, Eight." She said, before responding to Jessica. "Well, not all of them… Do you think I designed Octo Samurai?" Marina said after they broke the hug.

"You better not have…" Dylan sighed.

"Don't tell me that idiot gave you trouble." Marina said with a smirk.

Dylan rolled his eyes, and pecked Bridgett on the lips real quick. "I'm just gonna go home. See ya later, Bridge. I love you 3000." And with that, he waved to the group and began to walk away.

Pearl's eyes widened. "Wow, 3000 is such a big number… That's so romantic…"

"So, uh… What have you guys been up to today?" Bridgett asked the popstars.

Marina sighed. "Well, I ended up being called in to work to unclog Marie's toilet. Then I helped her and Callie do some packing."

"Packing? What for?" Jessica asked.

"I don't know, apparently the Squid Sisters are going to some island for a vacation."

"I thought Marie was still working in order to watch the Octarians."

Marina shrugged. "They're popstars. They gotta get out and have some fun, unless they want the pressure of their fame to build up and crush their sanity into the void."

"Yeah, whatever." Jessica sighed. "I'm also going home, I wanna sleep for a week. Later."

"Bye…" Bridgett said awkwardly, watching Jessica as she walked away from the square. She turned back to Marina. "So… We going home?"

"Right after we stop by McSquids. God, I'm starving…" Marina replied.

"Well, I'm starving too, but, I did almost see Jessica get cooked today…"

"You what? What happened?"

"...It's a long story…" She said, even though it really wasn't that long.


	4. Clownfish Day - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marina finds herself reliving the same day over and over and over again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Few things to say before we start. First of all, I just wanna bring up that, honestly, this chapter is fucking long, especially compared to the first three chapters. It's borderline it's own short story, and I have split it into two parts as a result, but because this will directly play into the overlapping story arcs I have planned for this story, I'm keeping it as a part of this anyway. Also, it's not like this story has any rules against it so, whatever.
> 
> Second, this entire chapter is basically a big homage/parody to the movie Groundhog Day, so credit goes to the writers of that movie for a lot of the ideas that appear in this. There's also another movie I homage/parody in this, but I'll save the spoilers for now. Third, as a disclaimer, the song I Got You Babe and its lyrics belong to Sonny & Cher, so of course credit goes to them for the song. Anyway, let us begin.

_"They say we're young and we don't know_

_We won't find out until we grow_

_Well I don't know if all that's true_

_'Cause you got me, and baby I got you_

_Babe_

_I got you, babe_

_I got you, babe"_

Marina's eyes fluttered open as her alarm went off, a groan escaping her mouth as she turned under her covers. She reached over to her cellphone on the nearby nightstand and flipped it over, revealing the time.  **6:00 AM, May 21st.**  She groaned again and hit the dismiss button, burying herself in her pillow in annoyance, just like every other morning where she had to wake up this early, of course this time with a unique song selected randomly from a playlist she had set on her phone. Slowly, with even more groans, she slipped out of bed. Today was gonna be a very busy and long day.

* * *

Wearing a simple black crop top and some jeans, Marina crossed the hallway in their house and entered the kitchen, where she suddenly narrowly dodged some cereal, which flew right past her face and bounced off the wall, prompting Marina to turn to the kitchen table with an extremely annoyed expression.

"Bada bing, bada boom! Marina has entered the chat! Good morning!" Pearl yelled unnecessarily loudly, holding the spoon that she launched the cereal with, as she grabbed some more and prepared to launch it. She didn't succeed however as Marina swiftly grabbed it from her hand and took her own seat.

"Good morning, Pearlie." Marina said, grabbing a bowl and the cereal box. She turned to Bridgett, who was also sitting at the table typing on her phone. "Good morning, Eight. You're up early again."

"So are you." Bridgett responded.

"Yeah, because I'm heading out. Things to do and all that. Why are you up?"

"I haven't been to bed yet."

"Um… Excuse me?" Marina said, instantly getting a little upset.

"You've been up all night?" Pearl asked, turning to her. "You're texting Dylan, aren't you?"

"Nope." Bridgett replied, sinking a little into her chair, when suddenly, Pearl leaped over and grabbed her phone out of her hand. "Hey!"

Pearl quickly skimmed through the wall of texts that was on-screen, reading the name of the texter out loud. "Dylan Schultz! Yep!" She prepared to read some texts out loud, when suddenly, Marina grabbed it from her hand as well.

Marina angrily waved the phone in the air as Bridgett stared at her in annoyance. "You can have this back when you get some sleep, young lady." She said in a somewhat sarcastic yet serious voice. "You can't just stay up all night on your phone, that's bad for you."

Bridgett immediately mocked her words angrily before she forcefully got up from the table, walked down the hall to her room, and slammed the door.

Marina smiled slightly. "They grow up so fast…" She said to Pearl, before she then raised her voice so Bridgett could hear her. "Love ya, Eight! Don't get cooked!"

"You're such a mom." Pearl said with a grin.

"Thanks, I try my hardest." Marina said as she poured herself some cereal. "Anyway, as I was saying… I'm heading out. Got hired for something."

"Whatcha up to?"

"It's Clownfish Day."

"Huh?"

"May 21st. Clownfish Day? When they bring out the little Clownfish to see if he'll look at his shadow or not?"

"...What the fuck kind of holiday is that?"

"Have you seriously never heard of it? You're an Inkling and I'm an Octoling… How have I heard of it when you haven't?"

"Oh, I don't know, probably because it's stupid?"

Marina rolled her eyes. "Anyway… Yeah, the mayor of Inkopolis asked me to be at the event for publicity or whatever. Get people excited."

"...And he didn't invite me!?"

Marina immediately went awkward. "Did you… want to go…?"

"Bitch, we're Off the Hook! We as in us! That's OUR thing! We do everything popstar related together! Did you forget!?"

"It's not like I'm singing or anything. They just… wanted me there for…"

"Yeah, so they asked you and not me. I see how it is…" Pearl sunk into her chair.

Marina frowned. "Pearlie… If you wanna come, I'm sure they'll have you…"

"No. It's obvious everyone hates me."

"They don't hate you. They love you!"

"Why ask for stupid old Pearl when they can just go for the sexy black Octoling instead?"

"You know that they don't know I'm Octarian." Marina extended her hand in an inviting way. "Come on. I invite you."

Pearl got up from the table just like Bridgett did earlier. "I'm fine. Whatever. Fuck me."

"Pearlie…"

But Pearl was no longer listening, as she too went down the hall to her room and slammed the door. Marina sighed, shoving her cereal aside frustratingly and reaching for the TV remote, powering on the TV in the living room.

She sat still and watched it from the kitchen table, and after a few commercials, some morning talkshow program came on, where a couple older looking Inklings sat at a table by some microphones.

_"Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties because it's cold out there today!"_

_"At least it isn't cold out there every day!"_

Marina tuned them out after she heard this. Cold out there today? They were currently in the middle of May and had been having a streak of nice warm days, so that didn't sound good. She got up and went to the front window, opening the blinds, and looked out. Much to her dismay, the sky was a gray void of hopelessness, and it seemed that there was light snow falling down. Ugh. With a sigh, she turned her attention back to the television.

_"Yessss, they are. But you know, there's another reason why today is especially exciting."_

_"Especially cold!"_

_"Especially cold, okay, but the big question on everybody's beaks…"_

_"On their chapped beaks…"_

_"On their chapped beaks, right: Do ya think Phil is gonna come out and see his shadow?"_

_"Phil the Clownfish!"_

_"That's right, squidkids, it's…"_

_"CLOWNFISH DAY!"_ The two Inklings cheered in unison.

She shook her head. She had a feeling that today was gonna be a shitty day…

* * *

**A Couple Hours Later**

**Inkopolis Square**

Just as the talk show had said, the air was cold, the sky was still gray, and it looked like it could rain down heavy snow any moment now on top of the already light snow. Marina looked around the area as she arrived. Upbeat cheesy music playing, a large crowd of people, and a stage set up in front of the Deca Tower on the ground. She was all geared up with makeup, but she had decided to not wear her usual Off the Hook outfit as she didn't seem to need to sing, instead opting to wear a jacket over her croptop to keep her warm.

An Inkling who happened to be looking in her direction gasped loudly, before he pointed and yelled out for the people around him to hear; "Off the Hook is here!" Multiple other Inklings turned her way as he screamed this, and the next thing she knew, she was being crowded.

Marina went through the usual popstar bullshit as she slowly forced her way through the crowd to the stage, saying "hi" constantly and signing a few autographs along the way. When she reached the stage, the audience took the hint and began to leave as she stepped on and nodded to the mayor. The mayor was an older Inkling, around the same age as Cap'n Cuttlefish.

"Mr. Mayor." She said. "Nice to meet you."

The mayor looked up and down at her in what seemed to be a small panic. "Yeah yeah yeah. What the hell are you wearing? And where the hell is Pearl!?"

Oh shit. Marina's eyes widened just a little. "Was she… supposed to come?"

"Yes! You have a concert to do! Ring any bells!?"

"What? I've never heard anything about a concert." It was then that she looked past the mayor and saw Callie and Marie, standing behind the stage in their full Squid Sisters outfits. Marie nodded with a greeting smile when they locked eye contact. "Oh shit… Listen. I didn't know-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever kid. Screw Pearl, you'll have to do." He snapped his fingers toward some of the people that were working around the stage. "You guys! Black girl needs a backup Off the Hook outfit ASAP!"

"Sir, with all due respect, I think it's fine if I run home and grab Pearlie real quick…"

"We don't have time, you're late already! Go get dressed and we'll get you started! Quickly now!" He yelled, shoving her a little.

Marina grunted as she stepped off the stage toward the workers. "Jesus, I got it! Thank you."

* * *

After Marina was forced to change back by the entrance to the Deepsea Metro, barely hidden from the public eye, she joined Callie and Marie in the little spot that they were waiting in. Now, she was freezing thanks to the revealing outfit.

Marie hugged her with a smile. "Sup, girl? It's been a while. I've missed you."

"Yeah, I missed you too." Marina said, returning the hug, before she then went to hug Callie.

"Where's Pearl at?" Callie asked.

"Oh. We didn't quite get the memo that there was supposed to be a full on Off the Hook concert. I was told I was gonna be here just to interact with fans and raise publicity."

"Are you serious!?" Callie replied as they broke the hug. "God, the mayor is such an old man. He reminds me of Gramps…"

Marina giggled. "So what have you girls been up to?"

"Oh, you know, just the usual popstar BS. Juggling our solo careers with some Squid Sisters concerts." Marie said. "We've been quite busy ever since we got back from vacation, but, we did manage to attend Ethan and Amelia's wedding last week."

"Speaking of Ethan and Amelia, they actually sent us a postcard from their honeymoon." Callie continued.

"I don't… know who that is…" Marina said awkwardly, and before Callie and Marie could respond, the upbeat cheesy music playing through the area stopped as the mayor began his speech.

"Welcome to the Clownfish Day festival!" He announced to the cheers of the audience.

The three tuned him out as they continued on the conversation. "What exactly are we performing anyway?" Marina asked.

"I think we're just supposed to do Now or Never again." Marie replied.

Marina eyed the stage. "…Do they even have my DJ mixer?"

The cousins also eyed the stage. "Um… Do you just wanna fill in for Pearl…?"

"The DJ thing is my gimmick though. The mayor really doesn't like Off the Hook, does he? I mean, he forgot to invite Pearl, he failed to tell me what exactly my job is…"

"Yeah I did hear he's more of a Squid Sisters fan." Callie said honestly.

"Callie." Marie said, elbowing her in the shoulder. "Don't."

"Ow. Just saying."

"Also…" Marie continued, turning back to Marina. "So… Just so happens that after this, Callie and I have the rest of the day off. I was wondering if you wanted to catch up and grab a coffee? My treat."

"It better be her treat that is because I ain't paying for nobody." Callie added.

Marina thought about it for a second, and then, deciding to put her bad mood aside, smiled. "I'd love to."

"Cool." Marie replied with her own smile.

As they spoke, the mayor concluded his boring droned speech as he opened a little box that was sitting on the stage. As he opened it, he pulled out the star of the party: Phil the Clownfish. The audience once again cheered.

"GIVE ME YER CASH!" The fish yelled. "WASTIN' MY TIME!"

The mayor held him for a few moments, and then, after such moments, set him back down in the box. "Sorry folks! Phil the Clownfish has spoken wise words: 'I definitely see a shadow!'"

The crowd then began booing in disappointment. As the mayor kept talking, the three went back to their little conversation.

"What even is the point of that? Are we trying to predict if there's gonna be six more weeks of winter or something?" Marina asked.

"Pretty sure it's just a stupid tradition that held up because people like to bet on it. I don't know." Marie replied.

"Well… They succeeded in getting that attention they want so bad apparently."

"And now, without further ado, I present the stars of the show, the Squid Sisters and… that one black girl in a crop top." The mayor announced.

Marina rolled her eyes. "Marina from Off the Hook, man. What an asshole. Poor taste. For shame." She sighed as the three stomped on stage.

* * *

**A Few Hours Later**

After a couple hours of singing on stage (which turned out to be a very strange and awkward experience, as they were forced to dance without their usual concert lights or equipment and just the barebones music) and another couple hours of just sitting in a diner chatting it up with Callie and Marie, Marina was now silently walking home through the streets of Inkopolis. She was already changed back into her casual clothes, and was carrying her leftover Off the Hook outfit in a grocery bag.

Suddenly, she felt something in her pants vibrate, and reached into her pocket to see that Pearl was calling her. She answered. "Hey."

_"Bitch, when are you coming home? Bridgett is driving me up the wall without her brat ass glued to a phone."_

She wasn't expecting such a response, taking a couple seconds to respond. "…Are you still mad at me? I invited you to come with." She was about to say that they did actually mean to invite Pearl, but ultimately kept it to herself.

_"Why would I be mad? I'm just a lonely loser who gets left out of everything. I'm not mad. I'm fan-fucking-terrible."_

"Pearlie, you do not get left out… I'm on my way home, alright? I have some stuff I was gonna work on, and then, maybe we can watch a movie with Eight?"

_"Let me guess. Your stupid Holocene Park again."_

"Actually, I was gonna suggest Ghostbusters."

_"...That's even worse. That movie is stupid. And weird."_

"Hey. Bustin' will make you feel good." She mocked. "See you in a bit."

_"You did not just quote that. You did not just fucking quote that. You did NOT just-"_ Pearl's voice cut off as Marina hung up.

She slipped her phone into her pocket when she stepped off the sidewalk onto a crosswalk, but to her surprise, she suddenly stepped footfirst into a massive hole in the sidewalk, which formed a deep puddle thanks to the water that had collected. She quickly raised her leg out, and to her dismay, her leg had already melted off. "FUCK!"

"Woo hoo hoo hoo!" A random homeless Inkling who happened to witness laughed strangely. "Watch out for that first step, it's a doozy! Haha!"

Marina stared at him in anger and then sighed to herself. Now that walking was no longer an option, she converted herself to her Octopus form with an angry grumble and slowly dragged herself home while she waited for her leg to remanifest.

* * *

**That Night**

As soon as Marina's leg remanifested and because usable again, she slipped on some sweats before she got back to work in her room. The weather had taken a turn for the worse, and was now snowing heavily, littering the streets outside, so at this point it was probably unsafe for anyone to be walking outside lest they get splatted by the moisture. Luckily, Marina was home for the day, so for her, that didn't matter. As far as she was concerned, the day was just about over. She was currently sitting at her desk under a desk light, tinkering with some gadgets she had been working on lately.

She heard a knock on the door. "Come in." She sighed as the door then creaked open to reveal Bridgett. Marina put on her usual welcoming smile. "Hi, Eight."

Bridgett just nodded in return before taking a seat on Marina's bed. "So uh… can I have my phone back?" She said sheepishly.

"Oh… Right! Sorry! My bad!" She pulled the phone out of her pocket. "Did you get sleep?"

"Yes…"

"Alright." She handed her back the phone.

Bridgett smiled. Her smile always warmed Marina up inside, no matter how shitty of a day she was having. "So uh… what are you working on?"

Marina turned back to her gadgets, and grabbed a specific one that looked like a watch. She attached it to the back of her hand, and then held it up so she could see. "Just a little project I'm playing with. It's not fully functioning whatsoever, but, it taps into space-time."

Bridgett only gave a confused glare.

"...Time travel. It's a time travel device."

Bridgett's confused glare turned into one of fascination. "Holy shit, are you serious? How does it work?"

"Well there's this other dimension that all of space-time flows through that I can sort of tap into, but… It doesn't work at all yet, so, whatever."

Bridgett got up and went to inspect it before Marina could take it off, grabbing her hand to look at it. "So you could travel back to… say, the human era?"

"I mean, I don't think you could actually physically time travel like that with just this, because this thing doesn't work that way, but uh… I guess if I get real creative I can update it and OW!" Marina said as suddenly, the watch erupted in some sparks right on Marina's hand. "What the hell!?"

"Oops…" Bridgett said, having been the one to accidentally press the button, as she let go.

Marina took off the watch and tossed it back to the table. "As I was trying to say, it doesn't let you physically time travel, but, once I get it work, it will be able to directly tap into the flow of time itself. Highly dangerous. Don't touch. No idea why I even built it."

"Um… ok. I'm sorry. Anyway… uh… what about the other gadgets?"

Marina was about to show her, when suddenly, Pearl entered the room, wearing a bizarre red suit that covered her whole body. "I'm pretty sure this is something you built, right?" The suit was made out of what seemed to be a mixture of leather and metal, and the helmet, which was entirely metal, somewhat resembled a gas mask that covered her entire head.

Marina's eyes went wide. "Pearlie, take that off. Now."

"Why?" Pearl asked, as she pressed a button on the side of the helmet, causing it to open up a little and reveal her face. "I found it, and I live here the same as you, so you don't get to make the rules."

"That is not a toy! Take that off!"

"What's it gonna do to me? Mommy doesn't get scared." She said as she closed the helmet back up, and looked at the buttons that were on the gloves by her thumb. She pressed the button on her left hand a couple times. "The question is… What is it gonna do to me?"

"This isn't funny, Pearl!" Marina said, and was now walking over to her to force it off, when suddenly, Pearl pressed the button on her right hand. With a high pitched scream, the suit briefly lit up with a faint white light as Pearl suddenly shrunk down and seemingly vanished.

Marina's eyes went wide again as she grabbed Bridgett's shoulder in a panic. "Honey, I shrunk Pearl!"

"You what?"

Marina slowly knelt down to look at the ground, and Bridgett followed suit. To Bridgett's confusion and horror, Pearl could just be barely seen, the size of an ant and sort of hidden in the rug. "Pearlie, if you can hear me, press the button on the left glove again!" Marina yelled as if Pearl was a large distance away, before she ushered Bridgett to move out of the way.

As they both moved out of the way, Pearl then reappeared, back to normal size, as she reopened the helmet again with large panicked breaths. She took a moment to recollect herself. "…Somebody peed in the suit!"

Marina's face of panic and frustration melted into an amused expression. "Aw, I thought mommy didn't get scared."

* * *

**Hours Later**

The trio had just finished watch Ghostbusters just as they discussed earlier, and now, Marina was exhausted. Pearl had slept through almost the whole movie, so Marina and Bridgett worked together to carry her to bed just because they didn't wanna wake her up.

"I assume you're going to bed?" Marina asked Bridgett after they finished the job.

She pulled out her phone. "I mean, I'll sit in bed, but I might be up texting for a while again."

Marina put on her serious face. "Hey. No staying up all night. I mean it. Or else I'm gonna start taking your phone for the night."

Bridgett rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Hey." Marina whispered, suddenly pulling her in for a hug. "I love you, Eight. Don't get cooked."

"Love you." Bridgett finished before she went to her own room.

Marina sighed as she stumbled into the kitchen to grab a late night snack, and then went to the living room to stare out the window. The ground was completely covered in a few inches of snow. She sighed. She guessed she was just gonna stay home tomorrow.

With her day concluded, she went to bed.

* * *

_"They say we're young and we don't know_

_We won't find out until we grow_

_Well I don't know if all that's true_

_'Cause you got me, and baby I got you_

_Babe_

_I got you, babe_

_I got you, babe"_

Marina's eyes fluttered open again, and with a grunt, she rolled over. Wasn't this the same song that played yesterday? That was funny. What was weirder though was that she could've sworn she turned off her alarm. She flipped the phone over to reveal the time:  **6:00 AM.**

"...God dammit…" She muttered. She originally intended to sleep in, but now that she was up, she decided to just dismiss her alarm and get up.

* * *

Once again, Marina crossed the hallway in their house and entered the kitchen, where she suddenly narrowly dodged some cereal, which flew right past her face and bounced off the wall. Not this again.

"Bada bing, bada boom! Marina has entered the chat! Good morning!" Pearl yelled unnecessarily loudly, holding the spoon that she launched the cereal with, as she grabbed some more and prepared to launch it.

"God dammit, Pearl! Stop doing that!" She said as she once again grabbed the spoon from her hand and sat down. Once again, despite the early hour, Pearl and Bridgett were in the same positions that they were in the previous day, with Bridgett once again typing away. "Anyway… Good morning, Eight. Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Nope." Bridgett replied.

"...Are you serious? You pulled two all-nighters in a row?"

"What do you mean two? I just did the one..."

"You've been up all night?" Pearl asked, turning to her. "You're texting Four, aren't you?"

"Nope." Bridgett replied, sinking a little into her chair, when suddenly, Pearl leaped over and grabbed her phone out of her hand. "Hey!"

Now Marina was getting a little upset. "Bullshit. Alright. No more phone for you." She said, suddenly getting up herself and then taking it straight from Pearl. This was odd, the whole situation seemed incredibly familiar. "I don't think I'm gonna give this back this time until you learn to sleep properly. This is ridiculous."

Bridgett immediately mocked her words angrily before she forcefully got up from the table, walked down the hall to her room, and slammed the door. …Again.

Frustrated, Marina pocketed the phone. "God, what has been up with her? Two nights in a row, and then she starts bullshitting me and denies it?"

"You're such a mom." Pearl said with a grin.

"Whatever." Marina once again sat down. "God this is so weird. This morning has been like a repeat of yesterday morning…"

"You slept in yesterday. Until almost the afteroon."

"...No I didn't."

"Yeah you did, I remember it pretty clearly. Do you need to get your memory checked?" Pearl laughed.

"I woke up at 6AM because I needed to go out and do Clownfish Day."

"Huh?"

"Clownfish Day, dumbass. We talked about this yesterday."

"...What the fuck is Clownfish Day?"

Marina stopped and thought to herself for a second. Now this was getting weird. She pulled out her phone and looked at the date.  **May 21st.** "…What exactly happened yesterday according to you?"

Pearl looked at her strangely. "Are you drunk?"

"...Well, I sure as fuck hope I'm high and delusional right now. What happened yesterday?"

"...When we went bowling?"

They had gone bowling two days ago. Was she actually reliving the same day as she did yesterday somehow? No, she couldn't have been. Once she realized how ridiculous she was being, she laughed. "Haha. Very funny."

"...What?"

"I get it now. You broke into my phone to turn my alarm back on, change my date, and you and Eight are putting on an act to confuse me."

Pearl went back to eating. "Now you're just giving me ideas."

"Drop it, Pearl, it's not funny." Marina said with a frustrated sigh. "I appreciate the effort though, I really do. Probably one of your best pranks."

"Yeah, it's not funny because I have no idea what the hell you're talking about."

Marina would've gotten mad, but she seemed to be telling the truth. "…I gotta check something." She said, standing up.

She went over to the living room and quickly opened the blinds to look outside. The snow from yesterday was gone, having been replaced with the simple light snow once again. "…What the hell?"

Now she was getting nervous. In a bit of a panic, she went over to the TV and powered it on. It turned to the same show from the previous day with the two older Inklings.

_"Yessss, they are. But you know, there's another reason why today is especially exciting."_

_"Especially cold!"_

_"Especially cold, okay, but the big question on everybody's beaks…"_

_"On their chapped beaks…"_

_"On their chapped beaks, right: Do ya think Phil is gonna come out and see his shadow?"_

_"Phil the Clownfish!"_

_"That's right, squidkids, it's…"_

_"CLOWNFISH DAY!"_

* * *

**A Couple Hours Later**

**Inkopolis Square**

Marina looked around the area as she arrived. Her original plan was to just stay home and wait the day out, but she just had to come here and further confirm her suspicions of a time loop. Upbeat cheesy music playing, a large crowd of people, and a stage set up in front of the Deca Tower on the ground. Again. Everything was going the same exact way. She didn't have makeup this time, wearing similar clothes to the ones she wore yesterday.

An Inkling who happened to be looking in her direction gasped loudly, before he pointed and yelled out for the people around him to hear; "Off the Hook is here!" Multiple other Inklings turned her way as he screamed this, and the next thing she knew, she was being crowded.

But this time, she wasn't about to go through the usual popstar bullshit. As quickly as she could, she pushed her way through the crowd up to the stage. The mayor caught sight of her, and was calling for her, but she decided to ignore him, walking past the stage straight to Callie and Marie.

Marie hugged her with a smile. "Sup, girl? It's been a while. I've missed you."

"Yeah, and I didn't necessarily miss you because we already talked yesterday." She said as she broke up the hug in a panic, getting confused glares from both Callie and Marie. "Guys… I have a problem. Potentially a big problem."

"...What's the problem? Are you drunk?"

"Drunk is more fun." Marina said frustratingly. "Guys… I really need someone to look me in the eye and tell me that I'm not crazy, and that we already did this yesterday. We did this yesterday and then we sat in a diner for a couple hours. Remember that?"

"Sounds like an epic dream." Callie said with a grin. "Do you need to be slapped? That'll help your brain out."

"...Yes please."

As requested, Callie suddenly slapped her across the face. Hard.

"Ow…" She muttered, grabbing her cheek. "Too hard."

Suddenly, the mayor came down from the stage angrily. "Black girl! I've been calling for you! What the hell are you wearing? And where the hell is Pearl!?"

Marina, realizing she was having a full on panic attack at this point, decided to not respond, and instead silently slipped from the scene despite the fact that multiple eyes were on her.

"Black girl! Black girl!" She could hear the mayor angrily call out.

Callie and Marie looked at each other with concern. "…What's up with her?" Callie asked.

"I don't know, but I hope she feels better." Marie said, watching her leave while shaking her head in dismay. "Being a popstar and all is probably getting to her."

* * *

Marina took the same path home from the "previous day", racking her brain. It was obvious, she was in some sort of time loop, and if she had to guess, it was probably from her little watch device that Bridgett touched. She hoped to god she wouldn't actually get trapped in it.

She stepped off the sidewalk onto a crosswalk, but to her surprise, she once again stepped footfirst into a massive puddle in the sidewalk. She quickly raised her leg out, and to her dismay, her leg had already melted off again. "GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!" She yelled. This wasn't even the time loop necessarily, this was own fault.

"Woo hoo hoo hoo!" The same homeless Inkling who happened to witness laughed strangely. "Watch out for that first step, it's a doozy! Haha!"

Marina slowly looked back at him. …Did he just sit there all day or something?

* * *

**That Night**

As soon as she got home, she had locked herself in her room in her decision to wait out the rest of the day. Sleeping to the next day would confirm if she actually trapped in a repeating time loop or if this was just a one time glitch in space-time.

Of course, even if she had locked herself in her room, that couldn't save her from the repeating events from within the house. She once again had to deal with Pearl putting on the shrinking suit and Bridgett asking for her phone back.

She sighed, setting down the notes she was writing and climbing into bed. Realizing that the pen she had was still in her hand, however, an idea clicked in her head. After pausing for a moment, she snapped the pen in half, setting the two pieces on her nightstand. If time was gonna loop again, then the pen should be whole again, right? Trying her best to mentally distract herself from her issues, she pulled the covers over her and laid down.

* * *

_"They say we're young and we don't know_

_We won't find out until we grow_

_Well I don't know if all that's true_

_'Cause you got me, and baby I got you_

_Babe_

_I got you, babe_

_I got you, babe"_

Marina awoke much quicker this time, jumping up instead of slowly stirring awake. She hadn't gotten much sleep, but despite that, she still felt rested somehow, even if panicked. She slowly looked over to her nightstand in fear, and to her horror, the pen was whole again. She grabbed it in a panic.

"...Shit."

Sure enough, according to her phone, it was once again 6 AM on May 21st, and this time, she was in absolute panic mode. Quickly slipping herself into some clothes, she left the room in a rush.

This time, when she crossed the hall and into the kitchen, she was unable to dodge the cereal that Pearl launched at her, which bounced off her face.

"Bada bing, bada boom! Marina has entered the chat! Good morning!"

But Marina wasn't even listening. She kicked the cereal aside, and without hesitating to even grab her jacket, she rushed through the living room and out the front door.

"Marina? Marina!" Pearl called out to her in vain.

* * *

**Inkopolis Square**

This time, Marina ran straight to the Square first thing. Since she was here a couple hours early, the place wasn't as packed and the party hadn't started yet, but there there still Inklings walking around the area, including Callie and Marie. The girls weren't in their Squid Sisters outfits yet, but were sitting by the stage chatting. Marina practically ran up to them.

Marie smiled when she saw her approach, and then stood up to hug her. "Sup, girl? It's been a while. I've missed you."

But this time, to Marie's confusion, Marina abruptly denied the hug. "Bullshit, we've talked twice here already!"

"W-What? Are you drunk?"

Marina took a moment to control her breath. "I'm sorry… It's just… I really need to talk to someone. Preferably not Pearl because she's immature and preferably not Eight because she's just a kid who wouldn't understand. I just… I can't think, Marie, and I really need help!"

Marie grabbed her shoulder to comfort. "Ok, ok, just calm down. Take deep breaths. I was aware you have an anxiety issue but this is…"

"This isn't my fucking anxiety issue! I have a problem!"

"Do you need to be slapped? That'll help your brain out." Callie said, although this time, she wasn't grinning.

"Fuck you!" Marina said to Callie, before turning back to Marie. "Marie, can we please talk in that one diner you like? Please?"

Marie was super confused and concerned at this point. "Marina, we have work here!"

"Well, you've already done it twice, I doubt the mayor will care if you skip one day."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Just come on, please, I have a genuine problem that's more important than this. Just… please… I'm asking you as a friend to help."

When the Squid Sisters only stared at her for a minute, she decided this wasn't worth it right now. She grunted and turned to leave, but, Marie began to follow.

* * *

**A Diner in Inkopolis**

"Alright. Spill it, girl. What have you been drinking? What drugs have you been taking?" Marie asked. The three girls were now sitting casually in the diner, with Callie and Marie sitting together across from Marina.

"I haven't been drinking or taking anything. I think. And that's my problem."

"Then what is the problem?"

"Oh, you guys wouldn't believe me..."

"Honey… We're the New Squidbeak Splatoon. We've seen a lot of weird shit. Try me."

Marina took some deep breaths for almost a solid minute, and then blurted it out. "I have been living the same exact day over and over. Three times now, I've woken up and it has been May 21st, on Clownfish Day. Three times I have woken up now and have had Pearl fling cereal at my face in the same exact way. This is our third day in a row that we've spoken."

"...Yeah, you're right, I wouldn't believe you."

Marina slammed her face onto the table, crying softly. "Of course you wouldn't. Because I'm just stupid ol' Marina! I obviously doesn't know what I'm talking about!" She screamed.

Callie and Marie awkwardly looked around. Now the entire diner was staring at them. "Ok. Ok." Marie said softly, rubbing the back of her head to comfort. "Hey. We're not saying you're crazy."

"Yes you are!"

"No we're not, you're just… going through a thing."

Suddenly, Marina's phone began vibrating in her pocket, and when she lifted her head and pulled it out, she saw that Pearl was calling. She denied, setting the phone down. "You don't have to lie to me. I know you think I'm crazy. But the thing is… Tomorrow, I'm gonna wake up again, and to you, it's gonna be as if today never happened. And then I'm gonna have to convince you again just how crazy I am!"

"Marina… I think you need to see a psychiatrist."

The phone began vibrating again, as Pearl once again attempted to call. Marina denied again with a grunt, and then set the phone to mute. "…I don't know why I came to you anyway… You're not gonna know what to do…"

"I just said what to do. See a psychiatrist." Marina slammed her head down into the table, as Marie kept talking. "Marina, I'm not one myself. But I'm your friend, and you can vent to me. Any time."

Suddenly, the waitress arrived at their table. "What can I get for you lovely ladies?"

"Yeah, I'll have some pancakes, I guess." Marie started.

"And I'll just have your biggest dild- oh wait, that's not right…" Callie continued. "Uh, I'll have what she's having."

"And for you, honey?" The waitress asked Marina specifically.

Marina rose her head, and after hesitating for a second, answered. "…I can just starve, it's fine. It's not like it'll matter by tomorrow anyway."

The waitress looked at her in confusion, before she shrugged it off and walked off to prepare the Squid Sisters' food.

Marie's face grew even more concerned, as she reached across the table and grabbed Marina's hand. "Marina, I'm concerned for you. You're acting very… unlike yourself."

"Yeah, well, like I said, none of it's gonna matter by tomorrow anyway."

"I don't know what you mean."

"You will. …Actually, no you won't."

Callie and Marie looked at each other.

* * *

_"Babe_

_I got you, babe_

_I got you, babe"_

Fourth loop. Marina rolled over and checked her phone just to make sure, and of course, same day, same time. She laid on her back. "…Here we go again." She muttered. As she was now on the fourth day, hope seemed even lower than it was before. She was trapped, with potentially no way out. There was only one solution she could possible think of; she was going to need to fix the space-time glitch that was presumably caused by the watch that she built.

With a sigh, she got up and went over to her desk where she had her gadgets she liked to tinker with lying about, and sure enough, the watch was among them. Motivated by the pure fear of being trapped in a loop forever, she spent the rest of the day researching into space-time and the watch itself. She didn't leave her room, and she didn't help Pearl when she accidentally shrunk herself, she was too busy focused on her mission.

Unfortunately, the day eventually came to a close, and Marina still had no answers. Now she was getting emotional from this, weeping from time to time in the otherwise silence of her room. But she wasn't about to give up. She was going to keep working until she figured it out.

* * *

_"Babe_

_I got you, babe_

_I got you, babe"_

Eleventh loop. Marina rolled over and suddenly grabbed her phone, throwing it across the room, before lying back down. Of course, she had been working on the watch every day, losing progress with each morning, and still, she had no answers.

* * *

_"Babe_

_I got you, babe_

_I got you, babe"_

Thirtieth loop. Marina rolled over, and this time, for whatever reason, she was extra pissed. Using all her strength, she slammed her fist down on the phone multiple times until the phone shut down from the damage, abruptly stopping the music.

She rolled over to lie on her back, staring at the ceiling, a couple tears lightly rolling down her face. A month worth of loops in, and the solution seemed nonexistent. Although she did know how to fix the loop, she had neither the resources or time to do it before the day resets.

She no longer knew what to do.

The waitress arrived at their table. "What can I get for you lovely ladies?"

* * *

"Yeah, I'll have some pancakes, I guess." Marie started.

"And I'll just have your biggest dild- oh wait, that's not right…" Callie continued. "Uh, I'll have what she's having."

"And for you, honey?" The waitress asked Marina specifically.

Marina sighed. Here they were again, sitting at the same diner from the first and third loops, having decided to once again talk with Callie and Marie. "Beer."

"Marina…" Marie interjected with concern.

"Shut it, Marie. I want beer. Lots of beer. As much as you can pump out, because today I intend on just getting very drunk."

The waitress looked at her with regret. "Ma'am, we don't uh… sell beer…"

"DID I STUTTER!?"

"I'm so sorry, Ms. uh… Waitress lady." Marie started. "Can you just get her some water instead? That would be great, thank you. Again, I'm so sorry."

"I didn't ask for water, I asked for some god damn beer! I'm gonna get drunk today whether you like it or not!"

"Marina, it's 6 in the morning!"

"I'll just get you some water." The waitress said, walking away.

"No, no, no. This place is bullshit." Marina said standing up. "I'm going somewhere else."

"Marina! Seriously!?" Marie yelled, following her, not caring that the whole diner could hear. "You're just gonna spend all day getting drunk!?"

"Yep. I'm telling you, it won't matter by tomorrow. Jesus, I've BEEN telling you that."

As Marina stormed out of the diner, Marie grumbled to herself, wondering what to do. She looked back at Callie, who was still sitting, and ushered her to follow her. She wasn't about to let Marina get drunk and die by doing something stupid.

* * *

**That Afternoon**

**A Bar in Inkopolis**

"...I was at an underground beach in the Octarian Domes once. I met a guy. We ate lobster. Drank piña coladas. At sunset, we made love like sea otters." Marina sighed.

Callie smirked as if it was a joke. The three popstars were sitting in the bar, Marina and Callie holding tall glasses of beer. Marie was the only one who wasn't drunk, as she was one who decided to make sure no one did anything stupid.

"...That was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get that day over… and over… and over…?" Marina continued.

Callie held up her half filled glass. As she spoke, her words were a bit slurred because how drunk she was. "You know, some guys would look at this glass and say, 'This glass is half empty'. Other guys would say 'That glass is half full'. I take you more as a 'glass is half empty' kind of girl, am I right?"

Marie sighed. She knew Marina well enough to know that she wasn't usually like that. Something was really under her skin.

"What would you do?" Marina said in response. "If every day was exactly the same, and nothing you ever did mattered?"

Callie and Marie sat in silence thinking through their answers. Callie came out blank.

"...That about sums it up for me." Marie sighed.

Marina sighed as well. "What if there were no tomorrow?"

Callie smiled. "No tomorrow. That would mean that there are no consequences, there'll be no hangovers, we could do whatever we wanted!"

Marina nodded, impressed. "That's true. We could do… whatever we want."

Marie sighed deeply. "Oh no…"

* * *

The three stepped out of the bar into the afternoon air, the sun visibly setting at this time. Soon, heavy snow would be raining down.

"Do you need me to walk you home?" Marie asked shyly to Marina, noticing that she was having a little trouble standing straight. She didn't respond, so she followed up. "Marina?"

"...No. I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine. I'm better than fine, actually. I'm great!" Marina said, her voice slurred. As she attempted to walk away, she immediately tripped a bit.

Marie grabbed her to ensure she didn't fall down. "Marina, I think I should walk you home."

"Bitch, you didn't listen. I'm so fine, I'm walking on cloud nine! Hey, Callie, what's that thing you like to do a lot?"

Callie's voice was also slurred. "Uh… I don't know, but I sure like to sing…!"

"No, not that, your uh… sex thing! You talk about that a lot!"

"...Oh! Right! Yeah, that sex thing!"

Marina shot her fists into the air. "Who says the party needs to end right now!? We can still go out… and be sluts for the night! And then afterwards, we can blow up the entire city, because we're gonna wake up tomorrow… and there's gonna be NO CONSEQUENCES! WOO!"

"YEAH!" Callie yelled, also shooting her fists into the air.

"Marina, that's a horrible idea." Marie said, not letting go of her. "I think maybe you should just stay at our place. I don't exactly wanna leave you to Pearl right now. Knowing her, she'd probably just encourage it. Come on, the sun is going down."

"I AM THE SUN!" Marina yelled into her ear. "The sun lives the same exact day every day, looping around the earth and whatever! That's exactly like me!"

"Marina, the earth loops around the sun."

"Whatever!"

Marie let go of Marina. "Don't move. Gimme a second." She then turned around to face Callie. "Callie, she's seriously freaking me out, so uh… I think that she should stay at our house for the night."

"Aww, Marie, but why!?"

"Because I'm nervous that she's gonna do something stupid! Alright? You too, honestly, because all you're doing is agreeing with her and encouraging her. I'm not taking my eyes off of either of you until you're clear headed."

Callie put on her meanest face possible in such a drunk state, whimpering a little. "You're no fun…"

Marie sighed. "Well, someone has to be the mature one out of us, right? I thought Marina was better than this but…" She turned around again. "…oh my god…"

Callie laughed.

Marina had just broken into a truck, having smashed the window and unlocked it from the inside to get in, and was currently hotwiring it.

"Marina!" Marie said, running up. "Dammit!"

But she was too late. The truck started, and before Marie could pull her out, the tires started and Marina began driving away.

"SHIT SHIT SHIT! MARINA!" Marie yelled in an absolute panic, running after the truck. "SHIT! FUCK!" She yelled some more as the truck turned a corner and disappeared from her vision. With Callie audibly laughing in the background, Marie shakily pulled her phone, dialing 911. "Oh my god, oh my god. oh my god, this isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real…" She muttered to herself.

* * *

Marina let the truck go faster and faster, and she was now barreling down a busy street. Her steering was lazy and was obviously that of a drunk person, so soon enough, police were on the truck's tail. It was a miracle she hadn't crashed yet.

Marina laughed hysterically to herself as she both heard and saw the flashing lights and sirens of the police cars. She stuck her middle finger out the window. "Hahahahahaha! Fuck all of you! I'm not gonna live by your rules anymore!" She yelled as she sped up the truck.

The steering was only getting harder as the truck picked up speed, but she was still laughing, and had no intention of stopping. Her mind wasn't clear at all, but she was having the time of her life. Who said people needed to adhere to their stupid speed limits? This was so much better than driving normally. If only Pearl and Eight could be in this truck with her right now, and they could all know just how much fun this was. And she had more ideas of how to make it better.

"Hey! Police officers! Watch this!" She yelled out the window, and completely let go of the steering wheel. "Hahaha! Y'all know what time it is! It's Off the Hook, coming at you LIVE from Inkopolis Square! Hahahaha- oh…" Her little drunk speech was interrupted as the truck took a violent swerve and bounced off the curb of the sidewalk by the road.

For just a second, the entire truck was airborne, as it flipped over and landed on its back, crushing Marina.

The police cars that were chasing her all suddenly stopped around the area of the crash, as the police officers all got out and went to assist her in a frenzy.

After a couple moments, another police car came up to the scene, which Callie and Marie stepped out of in a hurry. Marie's eyes went wide, as she covered her mouth. "Marina…"

Callie joined her at her side, only barely realizing the gravity of the situation. "…She might be ok."

As she said that, the truck suddenly burst into a massive fiery explosion, destroying the truck.

"...Well, no, probably not now…" Callie finished.

* * *

_"They say we're young and we don't know_

_We won't find out until we grow_

_Well I don't know if all that's true_

_'Cause you got me, and baby I got you_

_Babe_

_I got you, babe_

_I got you, babe"_

Once again, Marina shot awake instantly. Dazed, she looked around. She was in her room? In her bed? Again? She touched around her body just a little bit. "…I'm alive?" Then she pinched herself. "Ow. …I'm alive…" She threw the covers off of her. Her whole body was indeed still intact. Then, suddenly, she jumped up. "Yes! I'm alive! Still in the game, bitches! No consequences!" Even if she was no longer drunk, she was still excited. Instead of turning off the music, this time, she danced to it.

"They say our love won't pay the rent. Before it's earned, our money's all been spent. I guess that's so, we don't have a pot. But at least I'm sure, of all the things we got, babe. I got you, babe. I got you, babe!" She sang along, swaying her hips.

* * *

Even without the song, she continued singing to herself as she exited the room and crossed the hall, having heard the song enough by now to have it memorized. "I got you to hold my hand, I got you to understand, I got you to walk with me, I got you to talk with me, I got you to kiss goodnight, I got you to hold me tight, I got you, I won't let go, I got you to love me so…"

As she entered the kitchen, she reached her hand up and swiftly caught the flying cereal tossed by Pearl in an instant.

"Holy shit! Nice reflexes!" Pearl yelled, before continuing with her usual. "Anyway, bada bing, bada boom! Marina has entered the chat! Good morning!"

Marina ate the cereal that she caught, going over to Pearl and hugging her. "Good morning, Pearlie." Then, she suddenly kissed her on the cheek, before letting go.

"Heh…" Pearl said awkwardly. "I see that you're having a good morning…"

"It's the same morning as every other morning! And that is good!" Marina yelled herself, absolutely ecstatic. "Holy shit, all I had to do was open my eyes to all the possibilities that this gives me! Can you believe that I tried to stop this!?"

Both Pearl and Bridgett were staring at her like she was an entirely different person who broke into their house. "Uh… What are we talking about?"

Marina smiled, grabbing Pearl by the cheeks with a bizarre smile and laugh. "I'm trapped, Pearlie. I am living the same day, over, and over, and over again. And none of you know about it. I don't have to live with consequences anymore!" She let go. "I am, as it turns out, an immortal!"

"...What kind of trippy ass drug are you on!?" Pearl said, now a little concerned. This was bizarre, even for her.

"Something godlike, lemme tell you." Marina said, pondering herself on what to do today. "Hm… Maybe I should just… Eight, don't look."

Bridgett, naturally doing the opposite of what she was just told, looked. "Oh my god…" She blurted out.

"Marina, what the hell are you doing!?" Pearl yelled.

Marina's clothes dropped to the floor, revealing her… body. She smiled, as she headed for the door. "I'm going out into the freezing cold, girls! Ciao!" She said as the door closed behind her.

Bridgett and Pearl stared at each other as if they had just seen a ghost.

* * *

It may have been freezing cold outside for just her bare skin, but that didn't stop Marina. She no longer even cared.

All eyes were on her as the strolled along the sidewalk. Some people were taking pictures, others were catcalling, and all Marina did in response was smile and wave as she passed everyone, even giving a select few very suggestive looks.

Eventually, a police car pulled up to Marina and slowly drove alongside her. The police officer in the passenger seat opened his window and stuck his head out. "Uh… ma'am, please put some clothes on."

"What's the problem, officer? You don't like public nudity?"

The officer blushed. "Uh… I mean… I don't mind it… but it's like… against the law and stuff…"

Marina stopped and faced them with a suggestive smile. "Look, if you're gonna arrest me, arrest me, I don't even care at this point. But I'm not about to put on any clothes or act like society wants me to act or none of that stupid ass shit. It's like I told you assholes yesterday, I'm not gonna live by your rules anymore." Then, she stuck up her middle finger.

* * *

_"Marina Ida, famously known as one of the two popstar idols that make up Off the Hook, has been arrested for public nudity and public sex with a police officer today. Details are currently scarce on her arrest, but she is currently being sent to an unknown mental institution for evaluation."_

As the news continued to detail the situation, Pearl and Bridgett stared at the TV in utter shock and confusion. Pearl turned to her. "…This is like something Callie would do… Only way more extreme..."

Bridgett shed a single tear, not taking her eyes off the TV. "It's like she suddenly snapped… What the hell happened with her?"

"I don't know… but I think I'm gonna give the house a good search for drugs." Pearl said, as she silently grabbed Bridgett's shoulder to comfort her, before she stood up and began her search.

* * *

_"Babe_

_I got you, babe_

_I got you, babe"_

Marina once again rolled over. Just as it should be, she was once again in her room in the same position, not in a mental institution. This time, instead of sighing and forcing herself out of bed, she once again smiled, leaping up.

She had so much to do and a LOT of time to do it all. Just where to start was the big question.


	5. Clownfish Day - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being trapped in the time loop for a year, Marina discovers a heartbreaking secret of Bridgett's.

**One "Year" Later**

The sun began to set on the usual Inkopolis, and as always, just on cue, heavy snow began falling down, slowly turning all the streets white. For most people, this was considered unusual weather for the month, but for Marina, it was all too familiar. She'd be surprised if it was ever something different ever again.

In the warmth of her house, Marina set down a plate of cookies on her coffee table for about the tenth time now, sighing. "Hi, uh, thank you for coming on such short notice. Whatever, we've done this song and dance multiple times now."

Jessica took a cookie, before sitting back in a couch next to Dylan. "So, uh… How are we supposed to get home in such weather?"

"You're not. I prepared the house for you to sleep tonight."

"...Excuse me, but I didn't agree to-"

"Well, you have before, so I say suck it up and deal with it, Jessica." Marina said with a fake smile.

Jessica just looked at her in annoyance, so Bridgett sighed. "I'm sorry guys, she's been acting weird all day. Her behavior is suddenly getting a bit more… reckless?"

"Yeah, as if we don't already have enough asshole popstars in this city…" Jessica muttered.

"I heard that." Pearl said, glaring at her.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "So what are we doing here? You said you wanted a meeting with just us? Because it better be important."

Marina smiled. "I just… wanted us to have a chat. You know. As co-workers."

Jessica squinted her eyes. "Um… why?"

"Because, Three, when you end up trapped in the same day over and over and over again in shit weather for a year straight, you start to get bored. There isn't as much to do as you would think."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I have driven drunk, crashed a truck, strolled naked in public twice, done extreme sports, memorized the shit out of Ghostbusters, learned what death feels like and then proceeded to kill myself another 6 times just for the fucks of it, pulled a Callie and went out to seduce random people, including girls, that was fun… and I've caught up on some reading along the way. Every single time I wake up to I Got You Babe, right there in the bedroom, in the same exact way, every, single, day. And no one ever knows, because I'm the only one who's ever aware of it. My point is, I've been bored as hell."

The entire room feel silent as everyone took a moment to take in what the hell Marina was talking about, and Bridgett hid her face in embarrassment.

"...I like Ghostbusters…" Dylan awkwardly said, breaking said silence.

"It's a stupid movie. Old movies all suck, seriously. I don't know how anyone could survive back in the day when all they had for entertainment was shit like that." Pearl said with a bit of a whiny tone.

Jessica rolled her eyes, standing up. "God, you are such a teenager. I can't believe I got wrapped up into this. I'm going to… attempt to go home…" She said, walking toward the door.

"You'll get splatted and left as a puddle on the street all night. I know because you've tried it before, and failed each time." Marina said with a slight smirk.

Jessica grunted and stopped, staring at Marina suspiciously. "…Bridgett, what the fuck kind of drug is your mommy on?"

Bridgett nodded her head no. "I don't know. She's been acting like this all day. She was fine yesterday."

"Well, whatever it is, it's pissing me off." Jessica said, now angry, getting up to Marina's face. "You think that just because you're some hot popstar you get to control everything around you like we're all your puppets? You're immature. Both of you." She said, turning toward Pearl a little. "I could come up with a million reasons right now to why the Squid Sisters are better than you assholes, because I have just about had it up to the roof with you. Bridgett deserves better than you clowns."

Marina had heard the little speech before, word for word, so all she responded with was a slight grin.

Dylan stood up and got inbetween them, halting their death stares. "Alright, guys, this isn't the place to be having a fight. We're all friends here, so let's just-"

Marina chuckled. "We're not friends, Four. We're coworkers. Also, you're sleeping on the couch tonight because I know if I let you sleep with Eight you guys get crazy."

Dylan attempted and failed to say something, only a small sound escaping his mouth, as he backed off in his own embarrassment.

Jessica shook her head in disapproval. "You're ridiculous."

"And you're pitiful, Three." Marina said, her smirk turning to a more… threatening expression. "You're a hypocrite. You know that, right? Talking to me about being immature and ridiculous. You live your life beating up criminals at night, taking orders from an old man. You don't know how to properly filter your own emotions, and that's why you do it."

"Don't talk to me about filtering emotions, asshole." Jessica muttered, getting progressively angrier.

"Maybe I'm also a hypocrite. But what does it matter if I wake up every day and everything is the exact same? Huh? You're gonna wake up tomorrow and to you none of this had happened."

"I think you need to live in a mental hospital. You're not making any sense."

"I already tried the mental hospital. Doesn't help."

"Try it again. I'm out of here." Jessica said with an annoyed grunt, as she then walked toward the door.

"Three…" Dylan said, heeding Marina's warnings toward going outside. "Please don't…"

"Jess." Bridgett also said, but it was too late, as the door slammed and Jessica was gone. She sighed to herself, and then turned to Marina. "I… I don't…"

The room was uncomfortably tense at this point. Marina turned to face her as well. "What?"

Bridgett was having trouble finding the right words, stumbling on small attempts to say something, as Dylan and Pearl awkwardly watched on. "What… what has gotten into you?"

"I don't know what you mean. I'm fine. As fine as I could be anyway… I mean… I'm doing great! Immortality and all that. You wouldn't understand. You're just a kid." Marina said awkwardly, silently having a panic attack. "Just a kid. You're not too much younger than me, but you're just a kid…"

"Why don't you sit down?" Pearl said. Although Marina's panic attacks weren't always obvious, Pearl knew the signs at this point. She went over to grab her shoulder, but suddenly, Marina shoved her off.

"No. For once, Pearl, fuck off." Marina suddenly snapped, her anger suddenly releasing. All of her built up frustration from the entire time loop was about to come out. "You're not supposed to be the mature one here. You're the one who sits on her ass all day and does nothing but practice god awful rap. Alright? Cool."

Pearl's face grew disgusted. "God awful?"

Marina began slowly walking toward Pearl. "You have been no help! Nothing at all from you. Zero, zip, nada. I find myself in times of crisis, and you do nothing. Isn't that right?"

Pearl, not used to suddenly being snapped at like this, was already tearing up. "I don't even know what you're talking about…"

"But that's fine, right? No one else is aware, why should you be? I'm the one trapped in this endless time loop, why should anyone else care about how I'm feeling!? We're just stupid ol' Off the Hook. Not a team, just coworkers."

The words were hitting Pearl hard. Bridgett then interjected with a quick request. "Marina, please…"

Then Marina suddenly turned around and snapped at her as well. "No, Eight, I don't wanna hear a peep from you about this! You're the one who touched the watch. I wouldn't be in this god damn mess if it weren't for you!"

Dylan wanted desperately to chime in, but now, everyone but Marina was at a loss of words. This isn't something anyone would've expected from a kind girl like Marina in a million years, and yet, here they all were, getting chewed out.

Marina turned back to Pearl. "Do you consider yourself a friend, Pearl?"

A single tear fell down Pearl's cheek. "…Yes."

"Well obviously you're delusional. Because I'm not the Marina you've grown to love, am I?"

"...No. You're not. The Marina I know wouldn't act like this."

"Well I guess I'm just not Marina anymore." Angrily, she walked past Pearl to a closet by the side of the room and opened it, revealing the traditional Off the Hook outfits. Angrily, she ripped the massive zipper from the leather crop top of her own outfit right off, and then brought it back to Pearl, dropping it at at her feet. Then, as hard as she could, she stomped on it, not taking her eyes off of Pearl. "Where's your Off the Hook now? Huh?"

Pearl felt like she just got her heart ripped out, mashed apart a little bit, and then placed back into her chest a messed up pile of muscle. Several tears were now streaming down her face. "Marina…" She started to say, but failed to finish. Emotionally, she stepped out and toward her own room, closing the door.

Dylan remained dead silent, as Marina and Bridgett locked eye contact. "…You got something to add, Eight?" Marina said bitterly.

No, she didn't. Without a sound exiting her mouth, Bridgett also made her way to her room.

Marina awkwardly took a seat on the couch, as it was starting to hit her. Even for someone who was stuck in a time loop, she was no longer acting like herself.

The best part about this was also the worst part. None of what just happened mattered. She was still trapped, and there seemed to be no way out. For all she knew, she was gonna be trapped for the rest of existence.

Immortality wasn't all fun and games, she was starting to realize.

* * *

"Eight? Can we uh… can we talk?" Marina said, lingering outside of Bridgett's door. No response. "I really wanna talk to you. I wanna apologize." She sighed. Not like this mattered, she was gonna wake up tomorrow and none of this would have happened, but she just had a strange urge to apologize and work things out anyway. It was something the old Marina would have done. First, she would talk to Bridgett, and then, once she had the courage, she would talk to Pearl.

When she awaited a few seconds and still got no response, she quietly opened the door. "Eight?" When she entered, she saw why. Bridgett was already in a deep sleep, lightly breathing into the bed. She must have not gotten any sleep in this loop.

Marina stopped and watched for a moment. It was an adorable little scene. Instead of waking her up, she decided to carefully sit by her and caress her hair just a little. She really did feel like a sort of mother.

She sat like this for several moments, and it was now going on midnight. Over the entire time loop, Marina had never once just sat here and had a truly relaxing moment, she just realized. It felt nice.

Silently, as she stood up, she saw that Bridgett had recently been using her CQ-80, which she kept from the Deepsea Metro, which was sitting in her hand a bit hidden away under the covers. Her curiosity rising, aware that it would be returned in the morning, she slipped the CQ from her hand carefully and stepped away.

In the darkness of her room, Marina set down the CQ and tapped the analog stick, instantly causing a large holographic screen to appear. Marina wondered why Bridgett would even keep this when she had provided her with an actual cell phone. This was, however, Marina's first good look at the thing, and despite the advanced technology, the UI seemed very basic.

She browsed the menus for a bit. To her surprise, the old chat logs that they used to assist Bridgett and Cap'n Cuttlefish through the Metro were still there and readable. She chuckled to herself, reading through some of it, but didn't linger on it for long.

Eventually, she came across a specific tab with a long list of recordings. There was at least one recording from what seemed to be every day. Her curiosity rising still, she clicked on the most recent one. It immediately started playing, and Bridgett's voice sounded.

_"Dear diary. I uh… I'm not sure how to get into tonight's entry, but…"_  A long pause.  _"I'm just so incredibly frustrated right now. Marina, she… it's like she snapped all of a sudden. Everyone keeps suggesting maybe she was on drugs or something, but… God, I don't know how to describe it…"_

A small wince of guilt penetrated her stomach. It was only now occurring to her how she had really been acting, and how everyone has been perceiving it. Not that it wasn't obvious, but it was just now truly sinking in.

_"I uh… this might just settle it. I think I'm gonna move out. I can't live here any longer. I-"_

Marina suddenly paused the recording in surprise, breathing heavily to herself. What did she mean that settles it? She had herself suggested that she should move out in the past but she wasn't aware she had already been pushing her to that point out of frustration. After taking a few moments to let that sink in, she pressed play again.

_"-don't know where I'd live. Maybe with Three. Jessica. Sorry. Uh... I don't know… I don't know, I just…"_  A sniffle could be heard.  _"I don't know how to explain it, I just feel…"_  Then her voice broke entirely has she apparently began crying into the mic.  _"…so trapped. Moving from the Domes to Inkopolis was never easy, and, the Metro inbetween definitely didn't help and… Marina has been a huge help. Her and Pearl. She has been like a mother to me, she really has, I don't doubt that, but… It doesn't feel right at the same time. She's only a couple years older than me and it's like she's raising me."_

Marina lightly cried along with the recording. In the end she understood. If the time loop ever ended, she wouldn't stop her from leaving. But the recording wasn't done.

_"...Not that moving out is a new concept for me or whatever. I've put thought into that. I guess the reason why I'm so… emotional about is that… I can't keep this up. I might have to… cut ties with her. Both her and Pearl."_

Ouch.

_"I could never tell her. Not to her face. How could I? It'd break her heart. But… living here… with those… beautiful popstars, it's just… I still don't know how to explain it."_

"Explain what?" Marina suddenly blurted out as if they were speaking face to face.

Another long pause.  _"…It's damaging. Is that the right word? Damaging."_

"H-how is that damaging?"

_"Living with someone like that brings up expectations, ya know? I can't… live up to those. Not that. Off the Hook? I'm just a lowly Octoling, who barely knows the first thing of Inkopolis. …At least that's how I feel."_

Marina nodded her head no as if Bridgett could see it, her crying getting a bit stronger. "No. No, Eight. You're more than that. So much more than that."

_"I'm thinking that uh… living with Jessica just might be better for me. I know I didn't like her at first but she… She has a more interesting life anyway. I was thinking about taking up her little offer anyway. Being a… vigilante. You know."_  Another long pause.  _"…I think I need to sleep now. I've been up for a good 36 hours at this point. But uh… I'd still wish the best for Marina. I do love her. More than I can describe. It's uh… love is a funny thing, isn't it? Makes no sense. I don't understand it. Maybe it's stupid. …Love, Bridgett. Don't get cooked."_

The recording stopped there, leaving Marina in silence once again. Turning off the CQ, she silently wept to herself. She had no idea that she had such a negative impact on her, but now that she knew… and now that she was currently literally trapped in a time loop… how was she gonna fix it?

* * *

_"Babe_

_I got you, babe_

_I got you, babe"_

Marina barely moved this morning, staring at the ceiling. Now, she really was in a funk.

"Okay, campers… Rise and shine… And don't forget your booties because it's cold out there today… It's cold out there every day…" She muttered, quoting the television program from the morning.

* * *

This time, as she crossed the hall and entered the kitchen, she once again completely failed to even acknowledge the flying cereal, as it bounced off her face. She lazily turned to Pearl.

"Bada bing, bada boom! Marina has entered the chat! Good morning!"

A long sigh escaped Marina's mouth, as she chose to ignore them and head for the door.

"Marina? Is everything alright?" Pearl asked shyly.

Marina put on her jacket, heading out the door and silently closing it behind her.

* * *

"What can I get for you lovely ladies?" The waitress asked.

"Yeah, I'll have some pancakes, I guess." Marie started.

"And I'll just have your biggest dild- oh wait, that's not right…" Callie continued. "Uh, I'll have what she's having."

"And for you, honey?" The waitress asked Marina specifically.

Marina took a minute to respond. "…I'm good."

The waitress nodded and turned to leave.

"...Are you ok?" Marie asked with concern.

Marina nodded her head no, a single tear sliding down her cheek. "I uh… I uh… I don't know, uh…" She sighed. "God dammit…"

"Hey. You can talk to us."

"I just…" Then she suddenly broke down. "I've never felt so lost before… In my entire life… There's no way out of this…"

Marie rubbed her arm. "No way out of what?"

"Just... Eight, she…"

"What's wrong with Eight?"

"Everything's wrong, I uh… I'm letting her down. And there's no way for me to fix it…"

"Don't talk like that. There's always a way to fix things. You just need to-"

She was interrupted as Marina's crying became more intense at "There's always a way to fix things."

"There's nothing to do. There's nothing I can do. I'm trapped. I'm lost! I can't take it anymore!"

"Marina… Please tell me what exactly is wrong here. I can't help if I don't know what I'm helping." Marie continued.

"You wouldn't believe me… You never believe me!"

"That's not true."

"Yes it is. You don't understand."

"Of course I understand. You think Callie and I haven't hit lows before?"

"This is lower than just a low. Dammit!"

Callie and Marie looked at each other with concern. At this point, Marie was at a loss of words. "I uh…" She said, turning back to Marina. "Marina… Please talk to me. Please explain what's wrong. I wanna help you."

Marina nodded her head no. "You can't help… I just… I really need a friend right now… And I just… want for this to be over…"

Marie had no idea what she was talking about of course, but the friend part, she could always satisfy. Standing up, she tugged at Marina's arm to also get her to stand up and pull her into a hug. Callie joined.

* * *

On the way home that afternoon, she took the same exact path home. To her dismay, she accidentally stepped in the same exact puddle and melted off her leg… again. She sighed deeply to herself. How the hell had she still not learned to avoid this?

"Woo hoo hoo hoo! Watch out for that first step, it's a doozy! Haha!" The homeless man said just as he always did.

Well. That was enough existing for today. Not even wanting to crawl back home this time, she suddenly dived headfirst into the puddle. Without struggling one bit, her body quickly dissolved entirely, splatting her.

"Oh…" The homeless man muttered in response.

Without a respawn point, Marina remained splatted for the rest of the day.

* * *

**A Few Loops Later**

Following such events, Marina had fallen into a deep depression by this point, confusing both Bridgett and Pearl. She hadn't left the house for a few days now, she wasn't showering or anything, she barely spoke to anyone. She began keeping to herself, sulking silently, often staring at nothing.

On this specific day, she was sitting on the couch. She had barely moved all day and it was already going on midnight, as she listened to the wind from inside.

Suddenly, Pearl stepped into the living room. "Marina?" She asked shyly. She was obviously tired, as if she was about to fall asleep but suddenly got up.

Marina turned to face her, then turned back to the way she was facing. She sighed. "…Hey Pearlie."

"Are you gonna be going to bed?"

Marina didn't respond.

Pearl walked up to her. "Are you ok?"

Marina still didn't respond.

Pearl eyed her through her half open eyes. This wasn't normal, but she was too tired to think about it too deeply. "Well, if you wanna… you know… talk or whatever…"

"Pearlie?" Marina said suddenly, having a sudden urge to speak with her. She had to at one point, so now might as well have been the time.

"Hm?"

"Can you… can you sit with me?"

Pearl obliged, taking a seat next to her, resting her head against the couch. "What's up?"

"...Nothing. Just… nothing." She silently ushered for Pearl to rest on top of her, and Pearl nodded and obliged again, resting her head on her legs, in a position where Marina could caress her hair. She was already dozing off.

"...Funny story, I uh… in one loop, I well… said things. To you." She started as if Pearl had any idea what she was talking about. "They, well… weren't nice. You wouldn't remember them, but, they've been on my mind."

"Hm…" Pearl said, only half listening and only somewhat understanding literally anything she was saying.

"...There was a time where I thought immortality was the best thing that ever happened to me. I went out, I had fun. I left you out of it. I had good times. For a time, I didn't have a single care in the world. But I was fooling myself. All that fun, all that… wasted time I spent on nothing, I… I'd trade it all in for a proper lifetime with you in a heartbeat. I realize that now."

Pearl suddenly woke up just a little bit and sat up a little. "…Did you say something?"

"...Goodnight, Pearlie." Marina whispered. Pearl laid her head back down and quickly drifted off, leaving Marina to silently caress her hair.

Marina enjoyed the position for another hour, just sitting and barely moving, watching Pearl sleep. Eventually, however, she picked up Pearl in a bridal carry and carried her back to her room, slowly setting her onto the bed and sliding the covers over her. She stared for another few seconds, before she proceeded to her own room.

* * *

Marina sat at her desk for another hour, having decided to get back into tinkering with the watch. As far as she could tell, there was no way out of the loop with just the watch, but that didn't stop her from tinkering with it from time to time, hoping the answer would hit her in the face. She sighed. The watch was useless.

A wave of anger hit her. It was the same thing every damn time she tinkered with it. She just wanted out, more than anything. Angrily, she took the watch and suddenly threw it into the wall. What happened next completely caught her off guard.

The watch suddenly exploded in light and sparks, as it fell down the ground, twitching and jumping a little as more sparks flew out.

"Jesus…" She muttered to herself as she watched this occur. Then, although the sparks stopped, the watch straight up burst into flames. "Shit."

Marina burst out of the room and into the kitchen, where they had a fire extinguisher toward the back. Pulling it from the wall and carrying it back, she sprayed it onto the watch until the fire was out. She sighed, setting the extinguisher on the desk and staring at the watch.

At least it wouldn't have mattered if the fire got out of control anyway.

* * *

_"Babe_

_I got you, babe_

_I got you, babe"_

Marina groaned as she got up this morning. She checked her phone, same day, same time, yada yada yada, same exact drill. Given the circumstances, she was in a bit of a better mood today. She didn't feel perfect, but she felt a bit more at peace now that she had a moment with Pearl. Maybe she would actually head out and hang out with Callie and Marie today. Slipping on some clothes, she headed out for the door.

As she crossed the hall and entered the kitchen, as she did sometimes, she shot her hand up to catch the flying cereal caught by Pearl. Except, this time, much to her confusion, there was no cereal to catch.

She opened her hand and eyed her palm, before looking around. No cereal was even thrown. No one was at the table.

Excited breaths escaped her mouth. Things were different today. …Did she break the loop? "Oh my god…" She muttered, unable to believe it.

Pearl snored loudly into her bed, her mouth wide open and some stray ink drooling from her mouth. Suddenly, however, her deep sleep was immediately interrupted as the door to her room slammed open. "Hm?" She muttered awkwardly as her head shot up.

Marina practically leaped onto her. "Pearlie!? Pearlie! Are you awake!?"

Pearl took a second to wake up a little. "Uh… now I am… what are you…?"

Marina covered her own mouth with her hand as she suddenly began sobbing. The emotions she was feeling were too great. "I uh… I think I'm free! I got out!"

"What are you talking about...?"

"Today is tomorrow… It happened!"

"That's cool but I still don't understand…" She looked around, and then stood up today. "…What the hell happened last night? Weren't we on the couch?"

Marina smiled. "It was the end of a very long day…"

"Well uh… good for you, I guess." Pearl looped her hand around Marina to grab her phone, which she looked at for a second. "…Ugh. My phone is being stupid again. It's off a day now. Wasn't the 21st yesterday?"

But Marina wasn't even listening, her happiness in the moment was too immense. "Hold on, I gotta go check on Eight." She said, suddenly shooting up and out of the room.

"Uh… ok…" Pearl said to herself, incredibly confused at the situation.

* * *

As Marina ran over to Bridgett's room in a rush, Bridgett was already opening her door and exiting. "Marina?" She muttered tiredly. To her surprise, Marina suddenly latched onto her in a massive emotional hug. "Uh… Good morning…"

"Good morning, Eight…" Marina said followed by a sniff.

Bridgett smiled. But, after a few moments, the hug was overstaying its welcome. "Uh… you can let go now…"

Marina didn't listen.

"It's uh… getting weird now…"

She still didn't listen.

"Uh… Marina…"

"Yes, Eight?"

"Can you please let go?"

"No."

Bridgett sighed, and waited it out for Marina to finally get bored, which took another full minute. Eventually, Marina finally let go.

"So, uh…" Bridgett started. "Weird thing last night."

"Yeah?" Marina said, still ecstatic.

"Like… I went to bed last night, right? Because I hadn't gotten any sleep for a while, I was absolutely exhausted. And then… at some point in like the middle of the night… I was suddenly awake again. As if I never went to bed. Like I was up and doing things. And I don't feel like I got any sleep at all…"

"Huh… that is weird." Marina said, but she didn't put any thought into it. "I'm just… so happy to… you know… be here with you. I think we should have a talk."

"Uh… yeah… sure." Bridgett said. She has wanted to talk with Marina for a while already. She pulled out her phone. "Ugh. That's annoying."

"What?" Marina said, a little more calm now.

"My phone's clock is off by a day. Dammit."

Marina felt like her heart dropped into her stomach. "…W-what?"

"It says it's the 21st. Today's the 22nd. Weird glitch."

"Uh…" Marina muttered, feeling a massive panic attack come on as she back up a little.

Bridgett looked up. "Are you ok?"

Marina checked her own phone. Then it hit her. She had presumably escaped the loop… but… when she woke up that morning, she checked the date. It was still the 21st then, and she still woke up to I Got You Babe. In her realization that things were different today, she COMPLETELY forgot about that.

"Uh… I gotta check something…" Marine said through her heavy and shaky breaths, as she ran to the living room.

"Marina?"

"Stay here! I'll be back in a bit!" Marina yelled, throwing on a jacket and rushing out the door.

Pearl exited her room and stood by Bridgett. "…What's with her?"

* * *

**Inkopolis Square**

Marina once again ran straight to the Square in a panic. To her horror, it was the same scene. A couple hours before the Clownfish Day celebration, with a few Inklings walking around the area, and the Squid Sisters sitting by the stage chatting it up.

"No no no no no no no no…" Marina muttered as she realized this. Panicking further, she speed walked up to Callie and Marie.

Marie smiled when she saw her approach, and then stood up to hug her. "Sup, girl? It's been a while. I've missed you."

Again, Marina abruptly denied the hug. "Guys, I'm uh… I'm having a panic attack."

Quickly understanding, Marie nodded and grabbed her shoulder to comfort. "Ok, ok, just calm down. Take deep breaths."

Marina didn't listen, instead hyperventilating. "I… thought I broke the loop but… everything's the same…"

"Marina! Look at me! Take deep breaths! I'm serious!"

"I… I can't! I'm freaking out!" Marina said, her breathing only speeding up.

"Do you need to be slapped? That'll help your brain out." Callie said.

Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, Marina suddenly extended her arm and slapped Callie as hard as she could.

"Marina! Oh my god!" Marie yelled, letting go of Marina to instead grab Callie's shoulder. "Are you ok!?"

Callie rubbed her cheek in pain with a frown, but her frown slowly melted into a smile, and she suddenly burst out laughing. "Wow, Marina, that was sick! Where'd you learn to slap like that?"

Marina suddenly broke down into tears from all the panic she was feeling. She began to pace back and forth. "I'm still trapped! There's no way out!"

"Trapped in what!? What are you talking about!?" Marie said, not letting go of Callie.

"This time loop! No one knows except for me! I…" She stopped. "Except for…"

Marie raised one eyebrow.

"...Bridgett and Pearl…" God, Marina was just completely unable to think. And as she slowly pieced things together, things were only getting worse.

* * *

**The Next Loop**

**Marina's House**

"I don't understand… what do you mean we're in a time loop?" Bridgett asked, a little bit nervously, as she was standing next to Pearl.

"It means that uh…" Marina started but paused, attempting to keep her emotions in check as she explained. "It means that every day, we wake up, and it's… 6AM. On May 21st. Every day. Every day, the day plays out the same unless we interfere with it and then the day resets. And… I've even died a few times and that's still happened. Like, I literally died and came back to life. There's no way out…"

Bridgett and Pearl could only stare as the reality of their situation fell upon them.

Marina stepped over to the living room to where the couches were, where she leaned on it with both hands. "I…" She said, choking up. "I'm sorry, guys. I'm so sorry. This is my fault."

"What makes you say that?"

"The… watch that got me into this loop, I uh… smashed it. And… I guess it just disrupted spacetime even further. Trapped you too."

Pearl gulped loudly. "And uh… how long have you been trapped…?"

"...A year…"

Bridgett let out a small gasp. "Well, uh…"

Marina closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry, guys. I'm sorry. I don't know what to say, I…"

"...So what do we do?" Pearl chimed in.

Marina looked at her. "…Nothing."

"Well, there's gotta be some way to break the loop. Right?"

"Pearlie… I uh… I've tried to break it. Too many times. Nothing's worked."

"It can't be that hard. You got us into this. Can't you get us out the same way?"

"No. It is that hard. I have been trying… for a whole year. On and off of course, but still."

"Then what are we gonna do? Is it just us that's trapped?" Bridgett asked.

"I think so. I mean… we might wanna go and ask the neighbors though. I don't know if it affected just everyone in the house or if it extended a bit farther out than that."

"Ok but what are we gonna do?"

"I don't know, Eight!"

"Marina…" Pearl said with a bit of an angry squint. "I am not spending the rest of eternity in this weather."

Marina eyed her with sadness. "Guys, as much as I want a way out myself…"

Pearl dropped the angry eyes, leaning on the couch. "Look, it's easy. We continue to work on the watch until we find a solution, this time you'll have our help, and then eventually, we find the solution! We work out said solution, and then it's tomorrow and the loop ends! Problem solved!"

"Boom." Bridgett said.

"Easy peasy."

Marina looked between them both. "Guys…"

"Come on, Marina. We gotta at least try."

Marina looked between the two of them, sighing to herself. "God dammit…" She said, turning her back to them and pacing a little bit. She had gotten them trapped in this with her, and it was her fault. Now, she had to get them out. She had to. She owed them that. Slowly, she turned back to them. "…Ok. I'll try. I'll get you out of this. Whatever it takes."

Bridgett nodded, and Pearl did the same, but with a big mischievous grin.

"So… when do we start?" She said, her smile unfading. "The rap queen is at your service."

Marina stared at her with a confused expression.

* * *

**A Few Loops Later**

"Alright. Here's my plan." Marina sighed, laying her laptop down on the kitchen table and opening it, before it powered on and revealed some blueprints of a small device, which appeared to be some kind of small mechanical futuristic-looking box. "This, is something called a quantum stabilizer." She said, pointing at it for Bridgett and Pearl to see.

"...A quantum wha?" Pearl asked with a confused expression.

"This is the potential missing ingredient to the watch. Potentially. If I'm able to obtain this, pull it apart, and reconstruct it as a part of the watch, we might be able to break the loop."

"Obtain it? What, can't you built it?" Bridgett asked.

"I could, but the problem is, I don't have the time nor resources to be able to pull it off before the day resets and I lose all my progress. Luckily, it would seem the gods have shined down on us because, as it turns out, there's one in Inkopolis."

Bridgett and Pearl smiled. "Alright, so… where is it?"

She pressed some stuff on the laptop, and pulled up a picture of a laboratory. "This place. It's an Octarian lab."

"Octarian?"

"Yes, it was founded not long after more Octarians started migrating to Inkopolis. Inside that lab, should be the stabilizer."

"How do you know this?"

"I still have contact with some of my old science friends from the domes. It was just a matter of making some calls, really." Marina smiled. "The problem is… they're not just gonna give it to us. We need to break in and take it."

"Of course…"

"We need to do everything on time too, because if we don't, like I said, the day will reset and we will lose all progress."

"Done deal." Pearl said with a grin. "Man, I've always wanted to break into a place. And, we're justified by the fact that we don't really live with consequences anymore!"

"...You do realize that if we pull this off and break the loop, we will once again be dealing with consequences and we could get arrested for this, right?"

Pearl shut up, her grin fading.

"Don't worry though." Marina said, smiling herself. "I know exactly how to get around that. And I want you, Pearlie, to do it."

"...Do what…?"

* * *

"God, I should probably clean this damn closet once we do break the loop." Marina said with annoyance. She, along with Bridgett, was currently digging through the massive pile of random shit she happened to keep in her closet. "Do you see it?"

"Nope." Bridgett said, continuing to dig around. Eventually, she pulled out a strange… vibrator thing. "What's this?" She said in confusion. She sniffed it. "Blegh. What the hell is that smell? Honestly, I will never understand Inkling technology."

Marina looked over to see what she was holding, suddenly taking it from her and throwing it back in the closet. "Don't touch my old vibrator." She continued to dig around. "A-ha! Got it…" She said, pulling out her own Octarian uniform. She also dug around a bit more and grabbed her old goggles as well.

"...You kept those?" Bridgett asked.

"Yep." She said, holding them up to Bridgett's chest. "…I think they should fit."

"...You want me to wear this?"

"Yes. Don't worry, the brainwashing goggles are disabled." She said as she closed the closet door. As the two prepared to leave, Pearl, in the red shrinking suit, walked in, catching the two girls attention.

With a sigh, she pressed the button on the side to open the helmet. "…This suit makes me sweaty."

Marina grinned. "It'll grow on you, Ant-Lady."

"...Don't call me Ant-Lady."

"Why not? I got it from a movie."

"I hate your taste in movies so much." Pearl said, examining the suit. "Remind me why I have to wear this?"

"Someone needs to in order to shrink down and grab the stabilizer, and you're the best candidate."

Pearl groaned, whining. "But whyyy me!?"

Marina smiled, walking over to pinch her cheek. "Whyyy not you?" She mocked. "Come on. We gotta finish our planning. We have to do things perfectly."

* * *

**Another Few Loops Later**

**Octarian Lab, Edge of Inkopolis**

Their van pulled up to the lab from a distance. Marina, wearing sunglasses, leaned forward to get a good look. "Yep… this is it."

Pearl and Bridgett looked over. Bridgett was wearing Marina's old Octarian outfit. The lab, unfortunately, was guarded, with two female Octolings guarding the front entrance.

"...What's up with all the guards?" Pearl asked.

"It's not like this lab is completely legal. I think they just wanna keep out attention."

"...Illegal experiments? Fun."

"Yep. Something involving… experimental nano technology? I think. Whatever, we're just here to get the quantum stabilizer."

Bridgett sighed, holding her Octarian goggles. "…Do I really have to wear these?"

Marina sighed as well. "Well… I guess you don't need to. The guards aren't."

She handed the goggles to Marina, and then got ready. "This is… making me nervous."

Marina grabbed her shoulder. "Come on, Eight. You'll be fine. They'll know you're an Octarian, you'll fit right in."

Bridgett took deep breaths. "…Alright."

Pearl sighed and slipped on her helmet to the shrinking suit. "Alright. You ready?"

"Are you?"

"Maybe." She said as the pressed the button to shrink down. Slowly, in her shrunken state, she crawled up Bridgett's arm and onto her shoulder.  _"Alright. Let's go."_

Bridgett opened the door and stepped out, her Octoshot in hand just in case, Pearl still on her shoulder.

"Good luck, girls. You got this." Marina said with a reassuring smile.

"See you back here." Bridgett said, closing the door. Quickly, she walked up a ways to the lab.

The guards in front of the entrance, who saw her coming, held up their hands in a stopping motion. "This is a restricted area. State your business."

Bridgett didn't think they'd ask that. They had assumed they would see she was Octarian and let her in. "Um… I'm here to see Doctor… uh…"

The guards both raised their eyebrows. "What's your name?"

Shit. She didn't even know that. "Um…"

The guards suddenly pulled out their Octoshots and pointed them at her. "Get on the ground."

"Uh oh." She yelped before she was suddenly splatted.

* * *

The next loop, they did the same routine. This time, Marina had identified a doctor inside for her to lie about.

"I'm here to see Doctor Connors." Bridgett said as the walked up to the guards, without them having to ask.

"What's your name?"

"Bridgett."

One guard pulled out a tablet with a list of Octarians on it. Bridgett craned her neck to see, not knowing that such a list existed. "We don't see a Bridgett here. Last name?"

"...Fuck."

* * *

This time, Marina had hacked a fake name into their system.

"What's your name?"

"Bridgett Ida."

Silence for a few moments. "As in… Marina Ida?"

"...Uh… Yes…?"

The guards looked at each other, and then back to Bridgett. "Dude, we are HUGE fans of Marina!"

"Oh…"

Marina could be heard chuckling on their com system.

"She's the girl who designed the flooders! When she was only 10! And I'm pretty sure she's the girl in Off the Hook too!"

_"Aww, they love us."_  Pearl said, also through their com system.

"Yeah. That's Marina…" Bridgett said awkwardly.

"Anyway… uh… Doctor Connors you said? …He's not available at the moment, so you might need to wait around, but we'll let you in." They said, as the door buzzed and automatically opened.

"Thank you." Bridgett said, stepping past them and inside.

* * *

She navigated the halls, Pearl still on her shoulder.

_"This is making me a little motion sick."_  Tiny Pearl muttered.

_"Hang in there, Pearl. You're almost there."_  Marina replied.

Marina was right. Through windows, she could see some bizarre weapons from what appeared to be nano technology, but she ignored them. Looking carefully through each window, she came across a specific one, and inside she could see the stabilizer.

"Got it. It's here." Bridgett said.

_"Thank god."_  Marina sighed.  _"Can you grab it?"_

"Uh…" Bridgett went over to the door, but found that not only was it absent of a crack at the bottom, it was also locked. "…No."

_"Uh… I can see a way in."_  Pearl said, pointing up, although no one really noticed that she was pointing at anything in the first place.

"Where?"

_"Air vent."_

Bridgett looked up. Sure enough, there was an air vent up by the ceiling. "Ooh. Alright. You're up, little buddy."

_"What's going on?"_  Marina asked.

_"We're gonna try to get in through the air vent."_

_"Is it by the ceiling?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Well… how are you gonna get back out?"_

_"Dunno. But we've gotta try something, I guess."_

_"...Alright. Good luck, Pearlie."_

_"Alright, Bridge… Flick me!"_  Pearl said, leaning down, with her butt rising into the air.

Bridgett positioned herself, and then, carefully, flicked her off her shoulder.

_"WOO!"_  Pearl could be heard screaming as she flew through the air toward the air vent. Unfortunately, however, Bridgett had missed the air vent entirely, and Pearl instead slammed right into the wall, knocking herself unconscious. She awkwardly fell down to the ground, limp.

_"...What happened?"_  Marina asked.

"Well… fuck…" Bridgett sighed.

* * *

Attempt two. The trio were starting to get frustrated, but they had practiced for the flicking part now. They made it back to where they were.

_"Can you NOT flick me into the wall this time?"_  Pearl yelled.

"I mean… I'll try, but I'm not a flicking master."

_"Well, you better become one."_

"You know, you're small, but you're talking loud." Bridgett sighed, and, after once again positioned herself, flicked her off again.

This time, Pearl collided with the air vent, hanging on for a second.  _"Yes!"_  She yelled. However, her grip didn't last for long.  _"No!"_  She also yelled as she fell screaming off, once again falling limp to the ground.

* * *

It took another several loops to get it right. Several times, at this point, Pearl had either slammed into the wall or reached the vent and failed to climb inside.

_"Well, seventh time's the charm… right?"_

Bridgett, this time, took her sweet precious time to aim. "…Brace yourself." She said, right before she flicked.

This time, Pearl flew right through the slits of the vent entrance, landing inside the vent with a roll.

_"Woo! I'm in!"_  She yelled at the top of her lungs, shooting her fists into the air in celebration. She looked around. To her, the vent was huge.

Bridgett sighed.  _"Finally."_

_"Good job. Alright. Grab the stabilizer."_  Marina said.

_"I'm on it."_  Pearl said, beginning to navigate the duct.

* * *

A few minutes passed, Bridgett watching into the window the whole time. "How are we looking?"

_"Just trying to navigate these vents. These vents are huge…"_  Pearl sighed on the other end.

"Well, hurry up, I'm kinda standing in the open here."

_"You're not helping."_

Soon, Bridgett's fears of being noticed came to light. "What the hell are you doing?"

She looked over to see an older looking Octoling with an afro hairstyle and a labcoat staring at her, somewhat menacingly. She looked at her name tag on his coat.  **Dr. Connors.**

"Oh shit. Uh…" Bridgett awkwardly muttered. "Doctor Connors?"

Dr. Connors stepped toward her. "That would be me."

Bridgett remembered her excuse to getting in the lab in the first place. "Uh… yeah, I came here to… meet with you."

"Well, I'm not exactly free at the moment. Do I know you?"

Bridgett gulped. "No sir, I'm… Bridgett Ida, I'm the… daughter of Marina Ida."

Dr. Connors immediately appeared more interested. "Marina Ida, huh? Didn't know she had a kid."

Bridgett felt like she would die from the awkwardness. "Yeah, well, the world is full of surprises."

Then the doctor put some actual thought into this. "…Aren't you a little old to be Marina's daughter?"

"...Yes. Yes, I am."

Connors raised on eyebrow, but decided to just not question it. "Well. Lucky for her that adoption is even legal up here in Inkopolis."

"Right… Adoption." Come to think of it, thanks to her amnesia, she didn't even remember who her real mother was.

"Well, I changed my mind. I think I could find some time in my schedule to speak with the daughter of Marina Ida." He began walking past her. "Do you just wanna follow me to my office?"

"No… fucking…" She realized how she was acting. "Uh… I mean… I don't really wanna bite into your time if you're busy…"

"No no no, it's really no problem. Telling people that I'm unavailable is actually just an excuse I like to use to get myself some free time." He winked. "Works every time."

_"What's going on, Eight?"_  Marina asked.

Bridgett decided not to answer Marina as to not look awkward in front of Dr. Connors. As far as her current situation, well, this was her whole excuse to getting inside the lab in the first place, so there wasn't much she could do. "Uh… Alright. Lead the way." She sighed, as she began to follow the doctor to his office.

_"Eight? What's going on?"_  Marina asked again.

"You know, Marina is famous among both the Octarian and Inkling societies for completely different reasons. Crazy how one person could pull that off." Connors started.

"Yeah…" Bridgett cleared her throat. "Crazy…"

* * *

Eventually, Pearl finally poked her head out of the other end of the air vent into the room where the stabilizer was. She looked around. Luckily, the vent entrance in the room was above a whole wall of random shelves, so she should been able to slip in, grab the stabilizer, and then make it back without needed to get flicked.  _"Rap queen here, I have eyes on the prize, it is go time."_

_"Great. Do you know where Eight is?"_  Marina asked.

_"No idea. I've been stuck in the vents the whole time."_  She sighed.  _"I'm gonna grab it. Wish me luck."_

_"Good luck…"_

Quickly, Pearl jumped from the air vent to the closest shelf, as she began using all the available platforms to make it down closer to where the shelf was. Then, diving as far as she could, she leaped all the way to the table by where the stabilizer.  _"I'm here! Got it!"_

Marina breathed a sigh of relief.  _"Awesome. Get it to the van safely. I'll be waiting."_

_"On it."_  Pearl prepared to grab it, when suddenly, the door to the room slip open.  _"Oh shit."_  She said as she hid behind the box from the Octoling scientist that entered.

_"What is it?"_

_"Someone came in."_  She looked over to see that the door was still open.  _"…What the hell was the point of crawling through the air duct if the door wasn't gonna be closed the whole time?"_

_"Stay focused, Pearl. You might have to crawl back through the vent anyway in order to not be seen carrying that thing out without Eight. You may be tiny but the box isn't."_

_"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever."_  She sighed, as she waited for the scientist to leave. Unfortunately, the scientist didn't seem to be leaving any time soon, as she slipped on some headphones and took a seat, whistling some music to herself with a book in her lap. Pearl sighed.  _"God dammit."_

Luckily, the scientist wasn't exactly looking in her direction, so she decided to hurry back to the vent. Carrying the stabilizer above her head, she quickly jumped across all the shelves to get back, every once in a while looking back to see if the scientist was looking. Luckily, she was too interesting in the book she was reading to look.

Then, when she reached the last shelf closest to the vent, she realized she wasn't about to be able to slip the box in through the slits of the vent. She looked back. The scientist was still not looking, AND she had headphones on. In a hurry, she set down the stabilizer and jumped up to the vent entrance, pulling at the screws, having to do one at a time.

Although she struggled, she eventually loosened both screws, and with her still on it, the vent lid popped right off the wall, landing on the shelf by where Pearl had left the stabilizer.

Unfortunately, the scientist of course thought she saw something from the corner of her eye, and turned to look with an extremely confused expression.

_"Shit!"_  Pearl muttered, as she quickly grabbed the stabilizer and leaped up to the vent, disappearing.

The scientist, who saw the stabilizer suddenly leap up to the vent as if it had gained sentience, quickly jumped from her chair and to the wall, where she slammed her palm down on an alarm button. Immediately, all of the lights in the lab turned red, accompanied by the usual and extremely annoying alarm sounds, which loudly echoed throughout the building.

* * *

Bridgett, who at this point was awkwardly sitting with Dr. Connors in his lab, looked up as this happened.

Dr. Connors stood up. "The hell?" The two looked out of the room to see some Octolings in the hallway, in a bit of a panic from the sudden alarm. Angrily, he turned back to the only known guest in the whole building. "Did you have something to do with this!?"

"Uh…" Bridgett started. Now not seeing another option, and with no one in the hall to see at that exact second, she suddenly pulled out her Octoshot and quickly splatted him. "…I'm so sorry... You seemed like a nice guy…" She muttered as she stepped over his puddle and began to locate the exit.

* * *

Marina, hearing the alarms from her van, opened the door and stepped out. "God dammit… Come on, guys…"

After waiting a few minutes, eventually, Bridgett could finally be seen exiting the lab, which was easy now that the guards abandoned their post. She made her way to the van.

Marina hugged her when she got close enough. "God dammit! Where the hell were you!?"

"I'm sorry, I actually ran into Dr. Connors…" She said. "Is Pearl back yet?"

"No."

* * *

Eventually, Pearl finally reached the end of the air vent, this exit leading to the outside.  _"Finally…"_  She muttered. This time, she didn't have access to the screws to pop it off, so instead, she decided to use the box to ram it open. Charging into it, it luckily popped open, letting her out.

_"Whew. Alright, girls, rap queen is coming to you."_

_"Oh, thank god. See you in a minute."_  Marina said on the other end.

Pearl pressed the grow button on her suit, immediately growing to regular size. She leaned down and picked up the stabilizer, beginning to make her way to the car. This turned out to be a bad idea, however, as she was quickly spotted by a random scientist who was searching outside.

"Hey! Who the hell are you!?" She yelled.

"God dammit…" Pearl said. "…I'm just a random passer by. This is my halloween costume."

The scientist pulled out her Octoshot. "Get down on the ground."

Pearl sighed, and then, quickly deciding to take action, suddenly hurled the stabilizer at her head.

"Ow!" She yelled as it bounced off. Pearl took the small window of time that she was stunned to run forward, punching her in the head to knock her out. Unfortunately, this was heard, and the two guards that used to stand by the entrance exited the building. She quickly shrunk back down to hide.

"What the…" One guard said as they approached the scene. They looked down. "…We have eyes on the stabilizer. Bringing it back to you." She said into her com system.

Suddenly, Pearl grew back to normal size, quickly beating up one guard. As the turned to see the other guard pulled out her gun, she shrunk down and quickly leaped into the air, leaping onto her Octoshot. The guard looked in confusion as Pearl ran across the top of the gun, and then onto her arm and shoulder. Then, with a single punch, she leaped up and whammed her across the face, instantly knocking her out.

As she collapsed, Pearl quickly grew back to normal size. "Wow, I'm good…" She said, as the quickly grabbed the stabilizer and made her way back to the car.

Quickly running across the parking lot, she shortly reunited with Marina and Bridgett, handing the stabilizer to her. She sighed. "Got it."

Marina hugged her. "Oh my god, Pearlie, you're a goddess!" She yelled.

"Yeah…" Pearl sighed, realizing how good this made her feel. "…I'm Ant-Lady!"

Marina realized how stupid that name sounded. "…Yeah… sure… you're Ant-Lady…"

* * *

**That Night**

**Back at Marina's House**

As the snowstorm now covered Inkopolis in snow, the three were gathered back in Marina's room by her desk as she worked on the watch. She had already dismantled the stabilizer, and was currently in the process of placing the vital pieces into the watch.

Eventually, she wrapped up, and closed it up, sighing. Hope was running high in the group. "Well… this is it… Hopefully the end of the loop…"

"How do we know if it'll work?" Bridgett asked.

"...We won't. Not until tomorrow." She said, eyeing the watch. "Uh… thank you both, for helping me get the stabilizer."

"Oh… it's no problem."

Marina nodded. "…Eight… I've been meaning to talk with you about something…"

"Watch first. I wanna make sure that this'll work before the day resets. Please?" Bridgett requested.

Marina nodded again. "Got it." Then, simply, she pressed a button on the watch, and instantly, it suddenly jumped up, exploding into a little bit into sparks. "Jesus!" She yelled as she stood up.

"Uh…" Pearl awkwardly said. Luckily, it didn't burst into flames, but it did twitch around a little. "…That's lovely."

"...Do you think it worked?" Bridgett asked.

Marina eyed it for several seconds. "…I don't know… We'll have to see…"

Pearl scoffed. "Well… that's enough for me. Waiting till tomorrow it is." She stepped out of the room.

Bridgett folded her arms, deciding to stay. "So, uh…"

Marina turned to face her.

"What did you want to talk about? Because, truth be told, I was also wanting to talk with you…"

"Yeah. Uh…" Marina stopped not knowing how to bring it up, sitting down. "So… I don't really know how to say this… but…"

When Marina took a long pause, Bridgett continued. "…Say what?"

Marina decided to just say it. "…I know that you want to move out with Three."

Bridgett raised her head a little.

"And I… know about how I make you feel. About how… Pearlie and I make you feel."

Bridgett stared at her. The moving out part is exactly what she wanted to talk with her about. "…How did you…?"

Marina sighed. "In that… year, where I was trapped, before you were aware of it, there was one day, where I… said some things to you. …You got very upset."

Bridgett awkwardly turned around.

"And, I… uh… Well… I heard you. That night, when you uh… admitted your feelings to your CQ."

"...You were spying on me while I was on my CQ?" She asked, somewhat offended. What she put on that CQ was purely for herself. There was a reason she put diary entries on her CQ instead of her phone. Even if her phone was password protected and her CQ wasn't, she still trusted it more.

"...I broke into your CQ."

"...Why?"

"...I'm so sorry, Eight."

Bridgett began to cry somewhat. "I… uh… I should've told you… I was going to tell you…"

"...What about the things that you said about breaking ties with us?" Marina said, now crying herself.

Bridgett looked at the floor. "…I was probably gonna keep that to myself."

"Eight…" Marina said, walking up to her. "Whatever is going on in your head, you can talk to me…"

Bridgett turned around. "No, Marina, uh… not everything that is…" She struggled to find the words. "I just… God, you weren't supposed to know."

"...And you weren't going to tell me?"

"...I didn't want you to take it personally. It's not your fault, it's just… it's mine, I… I care about you, Marina."

"And I care about you… I love you, even. Even if it's weird for me to say, I love you like a daughter."

"That's the problem. I uh… you're a popstar, Marina. How am I supposed to live up to that, if I'm your… daughter? Like your daughter?"

Marina began crying harder. "Eight, I…"

Bridgett decided this conversation was too much. "I uh… I was going to tell you, that… I do intend on eventually moving in with Three. Like you suggested. If the loop breaks, I mean. I haven't discussed anything with her, nothing's final, so I'll still be living here for a while, but I thought you should… I thought you should know." She walked out.

Marina was left to her own tears. Her own somewhat violent crying. She let her down big time.

* * *

_"They say we're young and we don't know_

_We won't find out until we grow_

_Well I don't know if all that's true_

_'Cause you got me, and baby I got you_

_Babe_

_I got you, babe_

_I got you, babe"_

The next morning, and… the same music. Confused, Marina rolled over. Had the loop not broken? She checked her phone.

It was 6:00 AM… on May 22nd.

Marina felt like she was gonna pass out from the excitement as she grabbed the phone in pure joy, laughing. They did it. The loop was broken.

She smiled, quickly shooting up from the bed and going over to her window. To her delight, the outside world was covered in snow from last night's snowstorm this time. Nothing had reset.

Happily slipping on some clothes, she exited back out to the kitchen like she usually did, where Pearl and Bridgett were already there. It was strange. Things were still kind of laid out the way they were on May 21st, and yet, things were also different.

No cereal was tossed at her, no one was yelling bada bing, bada boom. With a smile, she sat down by them. Ecstatic, she smiled brightly. "Hey, guys!"

Pearl brightly smiled back. "Ayo!" She yelled, standing up and walking over to hug her. "I knew you could do it! Off the Hook is badass together, aren't we!?"

Marina hugged her back. "Yeah… I'm so proud of you, Pearlie." She said, nearly crying from the sheer joy. She realized her ecstaticness wasn't about to last, however, as she turned to Bridgett. "...Hi, Eight…" She awkwardly said.

Bridgett awkwardly looked up from her cereal. "…Hey." She said, but didn't quite feel comfortable talking to Marina yet. Silently, she shoved her cereal aside and stood up, leaving the room.

Marina frowned and looked down.

"...What's up with her? Come on, man, we should be celebrating! We broke the loop!" Pearl yelled, once again unnecessarily loud.

"Yeah… we broke the loop…" Marina sighed.

It was the end of one very long day, and the start of another. Someone once told her that waking up was the best part of the day, and that she should be happy each morning. But mostly, all she felt was a lonely emptiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, these two chapters only took forever to write, so thank god they're finished now, lmao. In case it wasn't obvious, the other movie I parodied in this was Ant-Man, so of course credit to Marvel for that little concept.
> 
> Anyway, a bit of an update for just my general stories. Just wanted to announce that I will be focusing on another more experimental story I'm working on called Agent 3: Execution. Basically just an entire story based around the concept of Agent 3 being a vigilante. It will actually be M rated, for both violence and sex, so be careful with that if you're younger, but it will also be in continuity with this story and will have ties with NSS:U, so hopefully you'll be interested when it's published. I did actually leave an easter egg in this chapter that hints to the plot of that story too, but I'll leave that to your speculation for now. Anyway, see you around. *waves*


	6. The Very Important Package

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cap'n Cuttlefish discovers a potentially dangerous weapon, and when Marie and friends are assigned with the task of protecting it, chaos ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In Memory Of Desmond "Etika" Amofah
> 
> 1990 - 2019
> 
> Rest in Peace, and Joycon Boyz Forever
> 
> Hey all, welcome to what may be the last chapter in this before I start putting more focus into A3:E (doesn't mean this story is ending, but I'll talk more about that in the ending AN). I actually started this chapter a while ago before I even started Clownfish Day, and then for whatever reason abandoned it, but this dumb idea I had is finally here. Just a couple things to say before we start, however.
> 
> First, just wanna mention that the character of Detective Grant Johnson, a new OC you'll meet in this, is actually a character I created for A3:E. But, because that is in continuity with this and because it fits, I'm plopping him in this before I properly introduce him in that. Didn't even need to say this really, but whatever, now you know. Second, disclaimer, the song Come and Get Your Love and its lyrics belong to Redbone, so credit to them for that. Anyway, let us begin.

**Inkopolis Police Station**

**2:00 AM**

Marie sighed, struggling a little bit against her cuffs. She was currently tied to a cold metal table in a dark room, staring into a one-way mirror. "This is no way to treat a lady…" She muttered to herself. If she didn't get out of his room soon, she was gonna have a mental breakdown.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a male Inkling, with yellow ink and a mush-cut hairstyle, walked in. Marie eyed him with annoyance.

The Inkling sat down across the table from her, relaxing his hands. "Marie Cuttlefish."

Marie scoffed. "Detective."

"Detective Grant Johnson's the name. I don't think we properly met earlier."

Marie rolled her eyes. "I'm so thrilled to meet you." She said sarcastically.

"We have a few questions for you, Ms. Cuttlefish. If you'll let us ask."

"Well, honestly, I normally try to be nice and patient, but I have been here for hours. I'm tired. I wanna go home. I wanna make sure Callie is alright."

"Well, if things turn for the worst tonight, you may just be going straight to prison. So I'd cooperate if you wanna go home ever again."

Marie sighed. "Well, then, I have a few questions of my own. Like, where's Marina, where's Pearl, and where in the god damn hell is Callie?"

"They were all arrested just like you. My partner is interrogating Marina in another room as we speak, because of how suspicious she is in this case."

"You hurt Callie and I swear to God I will-"

"Relax. As far as we can tell, Callie's innocent. But, you on the other hand…"

She sighed. "Oh my god, just ask your stupid questions…"

"Very well." He lightly smiled, and then leaned in. "Let's start with… What the hell is in that suitcase you were guarding as if your life depending on it?"

Marie sighed yet again, wondering where to even start.

* * *

**Two Days Ago**

"Can I just be honest for a second? You. Are. A slut." Marie said with a slight grin. "I'm actually afraid you're gonna get pregnant from a guy you barely know."

Callie laughed. "Ok, first of all...!" She stopped, needing to come up with a counter-argument, but came up blank. "…That is honestly a valid concern, yes."

Marie shook her head with a smile. "And you're a goof."

"That's just offensive."

"What's wrong with being a goof?"

"Because it sounds like you're treating me like a kid."

"Callie, you act like a kid. One with a really, really dirty mind."

"...Fuck. That's true."

She giggled. "Don't worry, you're not as immature as Pearl is… Thank god."

The two were sitting around in Marie's house, playing with some make-up together, when suddenly, their conversation was interrupted as her phone buzzed. Marie pulled out her phone, looking at the text. Seeing that it was Cap'n Cuttlefish, she smiled and responded accordingly.

** CraigCuttlefish: ** **young lady**

** Agent 2: ** **Hey, Gramps!**

** Agent 2: ** **What's up? It's been a while since I've heard from you…**

** CraigCuttlefish: ** **i have an important mission for you**

** CraigCuttlefish: ** **like, inkopolis could be in danger**

"Oh boy…" Marie said out loud, looking up from her phone.

"Who is that?" Callie asked, peering her head over Marie's shoulder.

"Gramps… With potentially bad news…" She sighed in response. She went back to the texts.

** Agent 2: ** **What kind of danger? Should we be worried?**

** CraigCuttlefish: ** **dont worry, everything should be fine**

** CraigCuttlefish: ** **i think**

** Agent 2: ** **Well, what's the problem?**

** CraigCuttlefish: ** **i found an extremely dangerous weapon**

** CraigCuttlefish: ** **it could level the whole city**

** CraigCuttlefish: ** **i need you to gather the splatoon and meet me at the deepsea metro entrance tomorrow**

** CraigCuttlefish: ** **we need maximum security to escort the weapon to safety**

** Agent 2: ** **Where are we escorting it to?**

** CraigCuttlefish: ** **i dont know**

** CraigCuttlefish: ** **out of the city**

** Agent 2: ** **Well… alright. I'm on it. I'll get the whole Splatoon and we'll make a plan.**

** CraigCuttlefish: ** **thank you**

** CraigCuttlefish: ** **ill see you tomorrow**

** CraigCuttlefish: ** **how do i exit the texting page**

Marie slipped her phone into her pocket. "Callie… We have an important mission…"

Callie smiled. "Cool! I love missions!"

"It could be dangerous…"

Callie's smile melted into a frown. "I hate missions…"

Marie sighed, thinking for a second. "…We gotta get the whole Splatoon. As soon as possible. We need all hands on deck." She pulled back out her phone, and then started by dialing Marina's number.

* * *

**The Next Day**

**Inkopolis Square**

The sun was already beginning to set, but Inklings and Octolings alike still roamed the Square, seemingly doing nothing.

_"Alright, Four… Is Gramps there yet?"_ Marie said through their com system.

"Not yet…" Dylan sighed. He was standing next to Callie, who was in her pink beanie and sunglasses. The two were on the far end of the square, keeping an eye on the Deepsea Metro entrance from a distance. "We have eyes on the entrance, waiting for Cuttlefish."

_"Callie? What about you?"_

"Yeah, I'm fine… Just waiting."

_"Agents 3 and 8? Status?"_

_"We're in position."_ Jessica could be heard on another end of the com.

_"Excellent. Remember guys, be careful with the package. If you drop it or anything, who knows what could happen. Based on Gramps' warnings, we need to be extra careful with it."_

"Got it." Dylan replied. "You can count on us. Who knows, maybe this'll even turn out to be fun." He said with some sarcasm.

Callie smiled. "I like the attitude, Four!" Then, suddenly, she slapped Dylan's behind, causing him to jump up a little in surprise.

_"Remember, for now you're just getting the package to Agents 3 and 8. No goofing off or attracting attention to yourselves or anything."_

"If we don't want attention then why is Callie assigned with this?"

_"Because Sheldon wasn't available."_

"He's never available."

_"I know. And then Pearl and Marina both refused, so they're with me instead."_

"Well… Callie is probably a better choice than Pearl anyway."

_"I heard that."_ Pearl could be heard.

_"Alright, whatever."_ Marie continued.  _"Get the package nice and safe, we'll be nearby the whole time in this van, just in case."_

"Ok, also, if we have a van, can't we just drive the package out of town?"

_"I mean, we could, but we don't really wanna risk a car crash. Could be dangerous."_

"...So drive slowly."

_"Listen, Four, you have a job to do, now just do the damn job and stop questioning my leadership."_

"Alright, geez… cranky…" He sighed. "We're on it, don't worry. Callie, do you-?" He turned, only to see that Callie wasn't even next to him. "…Callie…?" He looked to the Deepsea Metro entrance. "Oh, you gotta be shitting me."

* * *

"Young lady!" Cap'n Cuttlefish said enthusiastically.

"Gramps!" Callie said, quickly going in for a hug. "I missed you so much!"

"Aw, I missed you too…" He broke the hug, trembling against his cane as always, holding a black suitcase in his free hand. The suitcase was sealed, and had a 9-digit numberpad on it. "Alright… you know the mission?"

"Affirmative."

"Alright…" Shakily, he handed her the suitcase. "This could be one of the most important missions of our lives. Be careful now."

Callie took the suitcase. "Don't worry, Gramps, you're in good hands. Anyway, uh… what have you been up to?"

"Me? Oh, you know. Just protecting Inkopolis."

"...From the Metro?"

"Yeah. I won't actually be down there for much longer anyway. Stuff came up. Agent 3 can probably tell you about it."

"Yeah, well, guess I better go save the city myself…" She pecked him on the side of the head. "Love ya!" She said as she began walking away.

"Love you, young lady. Good luck!" He replied with a smile. Then, cane in hand, he headed back down to the subway.

Callie, meanwhile, walked back out to the main Square, looking around. Deciding that her sunglasses were just getting in the way, she lazily threw them off. Briefly, she set the suitcase down on the ground, before she slipped on some headphones that were connected to her phone.

She briefly locked eye contact with Dylan, who stared back with an almost concerned looking face. She enthusiastically waved, and then pressed the play button on her phone. She picked back up the suitcase, and the opening notes to the first song came on, prompting her to move her hips to the beat.

_"Hail (hail)_

_What's the matter with your head, yeah"_

As the song played, she danced to it stupidly, in public, and was quickly catching attention from everyone around her.

"Is that Callie?" A random passerby asked.

"Oh my god, that's Callie!" Another one announced.

"From the Squid Sisters!"

_"Hail (hail)_

_What's the matter with your mind_

_And your sign an-a, oh-oh-oh"_

As people swarmed around Callie, some began to dance with her. A big grin stretched over her face, as she danced alongside them, kicking at the ground. She even gave some of them some very bizarre suggestive looks as she mouthed the lyrics.

_"Hail (hail)_

_Nothin' the matter with your head_

_Baby find it, come on and find it_

_Hail, with it baby_

_'Cause you're fine_

_And you're mine, and you look so divine"_

She stuck her hands out and spun around in a helicopter motion.

* * *

"Come and get your love!"

Dylan watched from a distance as Callie stuck her hands out and spun around in a helicopter motion, now singing along to whatever music she was listening to. "God dammit…"

_"What?"_ Marie asked.

"...Callie is gaining a very uncomfortable amount of public attention right now..."

_"...Are you serious?"_

"Yes…"

Marie sighed.  _"…Honestly… I should've seen this coming…"_

"So uh… now what?"

_"Hold on… I have an idea…"_

* * *

Callie continued on down the street heading away from the Square, dancing and singing along to the music. "Come and get your love, come and get your love, come and get your love now!" She sang.

She slid on the ground a little as if it was a slide, when suddenly, a dart penetrated her neck.

"Ow!" She suddenly yelped. Her steps quickly became more lazy and and off, as she felt herself losing consciousness. "Come and… get your…" Then, she blacked out and fell over, but was suddenly grabbed by Dylan before she could hit the ground.

Dylan pulled the dart from her neck and then grabbed the suitcase from her hand before she lost her grip on it, holding her up. He looked around to notice that people were staring at them suspiciously.

"Uh… It's ok, everyone! She's just like… really drunk right now. I'm her, uh… agent." He sighed, throwing Callie's limp body over his shoulder. "I'm gonna get her home. Nobody worry. I'm a highly paid, trained professional when it comes to… getting unconscious people home..."

As he walked away from the scene awkwardly, Marie spoke up.  _"Got her?"_

"Yeah… where's your van?"

_"10 o'clock."_

Dylan turned to see an extremely suspicious white van from a bit of a distance. "…Are you serious?"

_"I said stop questioning."_

"Alright…" He carried Callie over, and when he approached, Marina stuck her head out of the driver's window.

"Hey, Four!" She said with a smile. "It's nice to see you."

"Yeah, nice to see you too, Seven." He said as he passed, carrying Callie to the back.

The back doors suddenly barged open, and Marie popped her head out. "Oh, poor Callie…"

"Here." Dylan said, as he and Marie worked together to safely lay Callie down in the back area.

"You gonna be alright on your own?"

"Yeah…" He held up the suitcase so she could see. "I told you that you can count on me."

"Alright. Get it to Three and Eight. They're waiting for you."

_"Yeah, and we're losing patience."_ Jessica said on the com.

"Shut up, Three. I'm coming…" Dylan sighed as he walked away to his destination. Marie closed up the van.

* * *

Several minutes passed, as Dylan carried the package along the streets, while Marina drove the van to follow from a distance.

Marie sighed, staring at Callie in her unconscious form, who was laid down on the floor in the back on the van. Suddenly, Pearl came back, leaning on her. "So uh… how'd she get knocked out?"

Marie pushed her off and stood up. "Four tranquilized her."

"Wow… now that is badass."

"Quite fitting too. She actually tranqed me once when we were younger."

"Really?" Marina said from the driver seat. "Why?"

"It was her method of recruiting me for the Splatoon, actually…"

"That's funny… Why didn't we get tranqed when we got recruited?" Pearl asked.

"Because Callie was the only one who thought it was even a good idea."

"Yeah, uh, whatever. Anyway…" She suddenly held up Marie's charger.

"Woah!" Marie yelled, attempting to take it from her. She failed however, as Pearl turned and kept it away. "Where did you get that? Put that down!"

"Why, you afraid I'm gonna break it?"

"Yes, that's my special charger! Give it back!"

Pearl, however, didn't listen, as she charged it up and fired a sudden shot in Marie's direction. Marie barely dodged, staring at her with fire in her eyes.

"Heh, heh… oops…" Pearl said awkwardly.

Marie sighed and took the charger from her, throwing it to the side. "I'm gonna go talk with Marina for a bit… try not to shoot a hole in the van while my back is turned." She walked up the van to the front, leaning near Marina. "Did you want me to take over for a bit?"

"Uh…" She was about to say no, but decided that she could use the break. "I don't mind." She moved over to the passenger suit, letting Marie sit in the drivers seat and take over. "Thanks…"

"Hm." She relaxed and began driving. "So uh… how have things been for you? We don't talk a lot these days…"

"Oh, you know…" She sighed. "I would say the usual, but that's not quite true…"

"Anything interesting happen?"

"Well, I got trapped in a time loop for a year."

"Oh… Uh… Huh?"

"Honestly, it's kind of a long story that I've already told a million times. But Pearl and Eight were there too, they saw like, the last few weeks of the loop."

"Tell her about Ant-Lady!" Pearl said from the back.

Marie looked ahead. "I'm just… not gonna question…"

"Probably for the best." Marina sighed again. "Other than that, you know, it's just been more of the same. Off the Hook bullshit, doing the news and whatever."

Marie thought she heard Pearl playing around with her charger in the back, but chose to ignore it. "How's Eight been doing?"

She looked down. "She…" She sighed, stopping for a moment. After a moment of silence, she briefly disconnected her com.

Marie raised an eyebrow, but took the hint and did the same.

"...We haven't been getting along…"

"Oh…"

"We uh… had a fight. Well… I don't know if you could call it a fight, but… Whatever, she wants to move out already."

"Why?"

"Because apparently I'm too good of a role model and I make her uncomfortable. Like, I'm too much for her to look up to."

"Is she gonna live by herself?"

"...She's gonna move in with Three apparently."

"What the fuck?"

"Yeah, I know, she's an asshat. I don't know why either. I thought Eight hated her but all of a sudden they're like good friends."

"Well… Kinda makes sense, actually. Jessica is her own role model to her. She wants to be like her, I can tell."

"Why though?"

"Because she's a badass."

Marina sighed deeply, turning to look out her door window. "…I let her down."

"No you didn't. You guys just need to… talk it out."

"That's part of my problem. Ever since she told me she's barely been talking to me."

"Well… maybe I can talk to her. Talk some sense into her. I'm not saying that she shouldn't move in with Jessica, but, I don't think she should be ignoring you. Besides, apparently talking some sense into people is like a specialty of mine."

Marina looked back at her. "Would you… really do that for me?"

"Of course. Anything for a friend."

"I, uh… thank you…" She smiled a bit. "Ya know… I wish we could hang out more often. You're so… relaxed."

"Oh, yeah. Too bad us popstars are always busy these days… But, maybe one day, if you wanna grab a latte or something, I'd love to chill with you." She gave her a reassuring smile.

"Sounds cool." Marina smiled back.

"Hell… I'd also love a ladies' night out. Me, you, Callie, and Pearl. Just hanging out, doing whatever we want."

"That does sound like fun…"

"Did I hear my name?" Pearl said from the back.

"Oh, yeah, Marie and I were just talking about a-" Marina started, but her sentence was interrupted as the sound of Marie's charger firing went off, and pink ink splashed all over the van, getting on all 3 of the girls.

"Woah, what the fuck's happening!? Holy shit!" Marie yelled out in surprise, stopping the van, and feeling some of the ink that landed in her hair.

Pearl, the one who pulled the trigger, peeked her head into the front. Her face was covered was in the ink. "…Aw, man, I shot Callie in the face…" She said casually.

"WHY THE FUCK'D YOU DO THAT!?" Marie yelled, looking back. Sure enough, where Callie was before was just a puddle of her splatted ink.

"Well, I didn't mean to do it, it was an accident..."

"We're on an important mission, I let you play around with my special charger, and you SPLATTED MY COUSIN!?"

"Chill out, I told you it was an accident, you probably… ran over a bump or something…"

"I didn't run over a fucking bump! I was driving slowly!"

"Look, I didn't mean to shoot her, the charger went off, I don't know why…"

"GIMME THAT!" Marie yelled, taking the charger from her. "You're never touching it again!"

"Woah, Marie, calm down, she just got splatted…" Marina said awkwardly.

"And this is my cousin that got splatted! My cousin, god dammit! You're not supposed to hurt my god damn cousin!"

"Wasn't it your idea to have her tranquilized?" Pearl asked.

"Shut up!" Marie groaned, gripping the wheel angrily as she took a moment to calm down. "The one mission… the one god damn mission…" She sighed and turned back on her com. "Hey, Four?"

_"Yeah?"_ Dylan said on the other line.

"Something came up, and we won't be able to follow you as closely. You gonna be alright on your own?"

_"Um… yeah."_

"Alright. Just wanted you to understand. Get it to Three and Eight just like before."

_"Understood. You can-"_

"Count on you, I get it. You keep saying that."

_"Yeah… sorry."_

* * *

Dylan continued walk down the street, suitcase in hand.

_"You're on your way, right?"_ Jessica said on one end of the coms.

"Yes, Three. Keep your tits in your shirt."

_"We've been waiting for like an hour."_

"Three, seriously, shut up."

_"You shut up."_

"YOU shut up!"

_"Girls, remember to get along."_ Marie said on her end.  _"Don't forget that this is an important mission. I don't need you fighting."_

_"Well, if some people in this stupid ass team would get their head out of their asses…"_

Dylan groaned. "You must mean yourself."

_"Perhaps."_ Jessica could be heard sighing.  _"Marie, remind me why we're even here and why Four can't just carry the package out of town himself…"_

_"It's a game of hot potato. Just one person carrying the package out of town would be suspicious."_

_"Ok… did you just compare this to a fucking preschool game?"_

_"Yep."_

As Jessica and Marie continued to argue on coms, Dylan chose to ignore it, continuing to walk along the street. Suddenly, he ran into another Inkling, nearly dropping the suitcase.

"Shit!" He grunted, holding it close. "I'm sorry…"

"Oh, it's my fault." The other Inkling said. He looked surprisingly similar to him, with the same hairstyle, but with blue ink instead of his usual green and large headphones covering his ears. "Gotta watch where I'm going…"

He took a strange liking to him because of how they looked alike. He extended his arm for a handshake. "Uh… Dylan."

He accepted the handshake awkwardly. "Well, people out here just call me Toon."

"Oh… uh… weird, but alright, Toon it is." He began to walk past, but suddenly stopped. "Do I hear you listening to Squid Sisters music?"

"Oh… yeah, I listen to them a lot."

"That's cool. I know the Squid Sisters personally."

_"Four… who are you talking to?"_ Marie said on the other end.

Toon gave him an interested look, so Dylan followed up with "But you're not supposed to know that, so…" He turned around and began walking away again.

"Um… ok…" Toon went on his own path as well.

* * *

At this point, Callie'd body had remanifested entirely, but she remained unconscious. Marie, Marina, and Pearl worked together to clean up the remaining ink.

"God, today has been a nightmare…" Marie sighed, throwing her rag aside once they cleaned up all they could. She rested against the wall.

Marina sat next to her. "Well, at least we're going through it together."

"...That's just cheesy."

"Well… we were having a nice moment there before Callie got splatted, so I just thought-"

"Not in the mood."

"Alright."

Pearl sat in front of them, crossing her legs. "Um… sorry for splatting Callie…"

"Apology accepted." She said, brushing it off. She stood up. "Alright. We should get this van on the road again." Before she headed to the front, however, the trio heard a somewhat forceful knock on the backdoor.

"IPD, open up." They heard a voice. Marie quickly realized IPD stands for the Inkopolis Police Department.

"Um… Shit…" Marie said, realizing that they had Callie's unconscious body in the back still. "Marina! Help me prop her up in the passenger seat! We gotta make it look like she fell asleep or something!" She half-whispered.

Marina nodded and grabbed one of Callie's arms, draping it over her shoulder. Marie did the same with her other arm, and the two carried her to the passenger seat, laying her down and putting her seatbelt on.

Marina sat down in the driver's seat, and Marie checked herself with her compact makeup before opening the door. "Officers." She said awkwardly.

Detective Johnson stared back at her. "Ma'am."

Marie stared at the badge on his chest. "Uh… what brings you to our… humble van today?"

"We got a report that popstar Callie of the Squid Sisters got publicly knocked out and squidnapped. She was carried away in a van just like this one, and we matched the license plate and everything."

"Oh, well, I wouldn't know anything about a Callie." Marie said, horribly failing at playing dumb. "Uh… what's the Squid Sisters again?"

"Ma'am, I'm gonna need you to step aside." He said, suddenly pushing past her and into into the van. He was followed by another police officer.

"Excuse me, you can't just barge in…"

"Yes, we can." He said with finality in his voice. He walked past Pearl, who was nervously sitting by the wall, and it didn't take him long to walk up to the front and see Callie, who was sitting still in her seat as if she had fallen asleep.

"Hi…" Marina said awkwardly.

"Hi." He said back casually. He grabbed Callie's shoulder and rubbed her lightly. "Ma'am? We have some questions for you." When she didn't wake up, he shook her a bit harder.

"She's a really heavy sleeper." Marie and Marina said at the same time. "Like… a REALLY heavy sleeper." Marina finished.

Johnson sighed and put his hands on his hips in a thinking manner. "Hm…" He continued to look around. "Just you girls? All you… popstars here in one vehicle? Ladies' night out, I assume?"

Marie gave a fake smile. "Yep… Lots of fun. We're just out here, you know, getting drunk. Being girls."

He looked around for another solid minute, taking in all the details he could. He did notice the rags that were now drenched in Callie's pink ink, but said nothing, only staring suspiciously. Then, he sighed, and began to head out. "Well… you ladies have a good rest of your night."

"Thanks… you too…" Marie said, closing the door behind him. She turned to Pearl and Marina awkwardly, who stared back.

"What's the plan now, boss?" Marina asked from the driver's seat.

Marie sighed to herself, walking up to check on Callie. "Get us out of here. We gotta catch up with where the package is at."

Marina nodded and shifted into drive, piloting the van forward a bit faster this time to catch up with Dylan.

* * *

Detective Johnson hadn't left the scene, however. He watched as the van suddenly sped up and drove away.

"...You think they're hiding something?" His partner said.

"...I do. I saw a couple rags with her ink on them. And the girl didn't even wake up…" Johnson replied. He opened the door to their police car. "Let's follow them." He sat in the car, and his partner sat in the driver's seat. Together, they began loosely following the van.

* * *

At this point in the day, the sun had set. Dylan walked through the dimly lit parking lot, where Jessica and Bridgett were waiting for him. He handing Jessica the suitcase.

"Finally…" Jessica said. "Took you long enough."

Dylan rolled his eyes. "You guys know where to take it, right?"

"Yes…"

"Cool…"

"Hey, Dylan…" Bridgett awkwardly said.

"Hey." Dylan replied, hugging her. "Good luck out there."

"Where are you going?"

"Home." He replied. "Straight to bed."

"Are you serious?" Jessica asked.

"What's the matter? My job's finished, I did it." He saluted. "Mission accomplished."

Jessica stared at him angrily, but Bridgett showed no sign of frustration. "Oh… have fun." She said with a small smile.

"Yep. Love you 3000." He sighed, turning around and walking away.

"Love you too." Bridgett said back, before turning to Jessica.

Jessica stared at her. "…What does that even mean?"

"I don't know, he just started saying it one day."

The two started walking down the dark parking lot to their own destination, with the suitcase in Jessica's hand. It was a very quiet part of the city, so it was a pretty relaxing environment overall.

"So…" Bridgett said awkwardly, playing with her fingers. "Anything you wanted to talk about?"

"What is there to talk about?"

"I don't know, just… we've been sitting here in silence for a while, so I just thought that…"

"What did you want to talk about? I know that there's something you've been wanting to say."

Bridgett looked at her. It was true, there was something she had been wanting to talk about, but felt too awkward to bring up a conversation. "Uh… I don't know what…"

"How about, let's start with what happened with you and Marina?" Jessica said, looking at her.

Bridgett stopped, then looked at her in pure disbelief. "…How the hell do you always know what's on my mind?"

Jessica stopped as well, turning around to face her. "Because I pay attention to things. Now, spill it. What's up with Marina?"

Bridgett sighed looking down. "I… She…" She took a deep breath, deciding to just tell her. "…She broke into my CQ."

Jessica's face showed slight surprise, an emotion Bridgett had never seen from her. "Ouch. That's dramatic." She continued walking again, and Bridgett followed.

"She, well, found stuff that I told my CQ, but it was like, really private stuff, you know?"

"I get that."

"And I just…" She took another deep breath. "…We haven't been getting along ever since. I haven't been talking to her."

"Why not?"

"Admittedly, I'm just not too happy with her right now."

"Bridgett… I get you're having family dramas and whatever. But, take this from a friend, it's best that you talk it out and shelve it up. I mean, you're living with her, you have to deal with her, you might as well just get it over with."

"Yeah, well… that's the thing… that I wanted to talk to you about…"

Jessica raised an eyebrow.

Bridgett didn't want to say it, but she had already started. "I'm… I decided that I wanted to move out."

"Finally." Jessica suddenly said.

"W-what? Finally what?"

"To you moving out, ding dong."

"...Why finally?"

"Honestly… do you know how little I trust those people? They give me just… these bad vibes, honestly. Never really felt comfortable with you living with them."

"Why not?"

"Because I just don't trust them. I mean, I don't really trust popstars like that in general. Hell, I don't even trust Agents 1 and 2 fully and I've known them nearly my whole career as Agent 3."

"You don't trust anyone."

"Mostly true. But I trust Cuttlefish. And I trust you."

"Why me?"

"Because you remind me of me. You have that… same fire, if that makes sense. Ever since I heard about what you did in the convenience store, I just… realized you're a person who'd lay down your life to protect people. I tend to trust people with those qualities."

Bridgett looked down, truthfully a little flattered. "I…"

Jessica stopped her. "So, what, you're moving in with Dylan?"

"Do you even trust Dylan?"

"Eh. I trust him to an extent."

Bridgett looked down. "No, I didn't intend to. I was actually going to… ask you…"

"...You wanted to move in with me?"

She awkwardly nodded.

"Well…" She looked on, sighing. "I mean… there's a few problems that would come up with that, but… I don't know, maybe when I come back."

"Come back?"

"Yeah."

"You going somewhere?"

"Did you not hear? I'm going back out on my Agent 3 bullshit for a while."

"O-oh…"

"There's this… Octarian gang that Cuttlefish has been tracking. They've been up in some nasty shit that I desperately need to stop. I mean… I'll still be in Inkopolis, but I won't really be home. At all."

"I…" Bridgett sighed, having had no idea. But, she supposed she should've seen something like this coming anyway. "How long until you come back?"

"Until I stop them. May take a while."

Bridgett felt like a straight up idiot. "I, uh…"

"Hey…" Jessica stopped, grabbing your shoulder. "Shit will turn out alright. Once I'm back and situated, sure, I'm willing to let you move in. Just be aware that there's a lot of my bullshit you'd have to put up with."

"Um… alright… will you… be safe? Doing your… vigilante stuff?"

Jessica smiled a little. "Bitch, please. I'm Agent 3. I know how to watch my back."

She rolled her eyes a little. "Sounds a bit arrogant, but alright."

They continued walking on. "What about you though?"

"What do you mean?"

"You gonna be careful while I'm gone?"

"I…"

"I know that you've been practicing a lot with ranked battles. You've been getting even better at combat."

"...Stalker."

"I know that you're just itching to get out there and beat up some criminals. Aren't you? That's why you've been training yourself, is it not?"

"Um… I mean… maybe…"

Jessica smiled again. "I'm proud of you. Really, I am. You really are like me. But… I'm just saying… be careful, yeah? Vigilante work is dangerous."

"You yourself suggested I join you, didn't you?"

"I did, but that's for when you're even more experienced. You do have the potential, but… you're not quite there yet."

Bridgett sighed, looking down, not having a response.

"So, what I'm saying is, be careful. Stay close to the ground. Don't do anything crazy. I'm serious."

Bridgett stared. She nodded, but it was half-hearted.

Jessica looked back. "I'm serious." She said, in a somewhat threatening manner.

"Alright, I get it. Yikes."

"Good…" She sighed.

Things fell silent for a bit as they marched toward their destination.

"...Honestly… I wish we could hang out more. I kinda like talking to you." Bridgett eventually said, breaking the silence.

"Really?" Jessica said, looking at her. "I thought you hated me."

"Well… I did…"

Jessica smiled just a little, but Bridgett didn't see it. "Yeah… yeah, we should hang out more."

* * *

Marina continued to drive the van along the determined path they had mapped out beforehand. Eventually, they came to the parking lot that Jessica and Bridgett were stationed at, and saw them walking from a distance. Loosely, Marina followed.

At around this time, Callie finally awoke. Her eyes drifted open and she groaned a little. "Holy hell… my head…" She muttered, grabbing it, feeling a massive headache.

This caught Marina's attention, and she quickly turned to her. "Hey! We've been waiting for you to wake up."

Callie looked around, incredibly confused. "W-where am I?"

"Marie! She's up!" Marina suddenly yelled to the back.

Marie, who wasn't paying attention, instead typing away on her phone, looked and then stood up. "Hey…" She said, walking up and caressing her hair a little. "Feeling ok?"

"Yeah… I mean… What the hell? Wasn't I just dancing a second ago?" She said.

"Yeah, sorry… Four had to dart you."

Callie took a second to remember, and then suddenly remembered that she was escorting the dangerous weapon. In a sudden panic, she shot her head in different directions to search for it. "Oh my god… the package! Shit! I lost the package! Oh, Gramps is gonna be pissed!"

"Hey, woah woah woah, don't worry. Four got the package. It's with Three and Eight now." She pointed out to the window to the distance, where Jessica and Bridgett could barely be seen walking.

Callie looked out, spotting them, and then breathed a sigh of relief. "Woo… Ok… That's good…"

"Yeah…" She continued to rub around her hair. "Never break down into musical numbers during important missions again, you hear?"

"Ok, mom, whatever." She replied sarcastically. She unplugged her seatbelt and stood up, stepping to the back. "Hey, Pearl."

"Wassup?" Pearl said, standing up with a smile. Then, to Marie's confusion, the two girls proceeded to do what appeared to be a secret handshake.

Marie stared at them awkwardly, tilting her head. "Uh… good friends, I see…?"

"Hell yeah!" Callie said with a big grin. "We've been hanging out a lot lately!"

"She's a total homie." Pearl said, putting an arm around her.

From what Marie understood beforehand, they barely even knew each other, so this was a little out of left field to her. "Um… ok… good for you…"

"Hey, uh, guys?" Marina called out from the driver seat. "I think we might have a situation."

"What?" Marie said, going up to her. "Problem?"

"Maybe…" Marina said, pointing at the rearview mirror.

The four popstars all gathered up front as Marie stared at the mirror. Marie could just barely see a police car following from the distance. "Well… shit… the police are still on our ass."

"What do we do?"

"...Well… They think we're suspicious because of Callie, but Callie is awake now, so we can just have her explain-" Her sentence was interrupted as they heard the back door open. In a small panic, she looked around to notice that Callie was now missing from the group. "…I should just really stay quiet, shouldn't I?"

* * *

"What the hell…?" Detective Johnson muttered to his partner as they saw Callie exit the van and slowly approach them. When she got close, she awkwardly waved. He got out of the car, approaching her. "Ma'am, what are you doing?"

Callie stopped. "Oh… well… I just wanted to explain…"

"Explain what?"

"Why I… got knocked out and whatever. Apparently you guys are onto us because of that? Yeah. Just wanted to tell you it's fine."

Johnson's partner got out of the car as well, and the two officers stared at each other, thinking.

Johnson sighed, looking back at her. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"I got darted. By my good friend Four, actually. Oh, you should've seen it. But don't worry, I know it was with good intentions, because believe it or not, we are on a very very important mission right now."

Johnson wasn't quite following. "I… what? Who's Four? What mission?"

Callie smiled a little. "Can you guys keep a secret? It's very important, but it has to stay private. I mean… you're police, so I think we can trust you."

"Ok?"

"There's a dangerous weapon in the city. Like, really dangerous. It could apparently level the whole city if something bad happened to it. We've been trying to get it out of the area. You know… for the city's safety and whatever."

Johnson looked at her suspiciously, a bit of fear showing on his eyes. "What the hell are you talking about? What weapon?"

"I… it's in like a suitcase, we're carrying it out of the city. Don't worry though, it's in totally good hands."

Johnson's face grew a little angry. "Take us to it!" He commanded.

"I… uh… you sure…?"

"Yes! If there is really a dangerous weapon in the city it falls under the responsibility of the IPD!" He yelled. "Now take us to it!"

"I… ok then…"

* * *

Marie, who could barely hear Johnson's commands, slammed the backdoors to the van shut. "Shit shit shit shit shit!"

"What?" Marina asked.

"Callie told the police about the package!"

"Oh…" Marina sighed. "Well… so much for privacy…"

"What the hell are you waiting for!? Let's go grab it, we gotta drive the package out of town now! I don't trust the police with it one bit!"

"I… ok…" Marina said, as she sped up the van toward Jessica and Bridgett.

* * *

"The Krusty Shack Pizza, is the pizza, ab-so-lu-tiv-al-y!" Bridgett sang, now holding the suitcase. The song was just a dumb one she had heard multiple times from a commercial, that she had stuck in her head. Jessica walked alongside her, incredibly annoyed, but she chose to not say anything.

"P-P-P-P-Pizza, do-do-chun-chun-chi-chi pizza, do do ba ba ba da…" Bridgett began beat boxing the song, lightly hitting the suitcase with her palm as she did so.

"Do do do do pizza, do do do do do do pizza, do do do do do do…" She continued to sing, as she turned around and walked backwards, shaking her behind a little.

She turned back around and walked normally, as she deepened her voice as much as she could. "Krusty-Sha-a-aa-yaaa yeah-yeah-ya-ya pizza, is the pizza yeah, for you and… MEE YEE-HEE-HEEE-HEEEE!" She suddenly screeched the last part, jumping up and down with the suitcase in hand, causing Jessica to jump.

"SHUT UP!" Jessica finally yelled.

Before Bridgett could respond, Marie's van suddenly pulled up to them, and Marie peeked her head out from the passenger seat. "Give us the case! Now!"

"I… what the fuck?" Jessica asked in confusion.

"Something came up, and we gotta get it out of here, ASAP!"

"I, uh… what's going on?"

"There's no time to explain! Just give us the case!" Marie yelled.

Bridgett awkwardly stepped forward, handing her the case through the window, and Marie aggressively took it.

"Thanks! Get us outta here, Marina!" Marie hurriedly closed the window, and the van sped off.

Jessica and Bridgett looked on in confusion. "…What the hell?" Bridgett asked.

"...I hate today so much… I have a headache…" Jessica sighed.

As she said this, they heard a police siren sound from behind them, prompting them to look back. A police car, flashing lights and all, sped past them, chasing after the van.

* * *

"They're chasing us! They're trying to pull us over!" Marina yelled.

"God dammit, Callie!" Marie yelled back.

"What should we do?"

"Get us out of here! We can't just let the police have it!"

Before Marina could speed up the van even further, however, a second police car somehow got in front of them. "Shit!" Marina yelled, hitting the breaks. The van barely stopped before it hit the other car.

Marie held the suitcase close, and a couple seconds later, the backdoors to the van were once again being banged on.

"IPD, open the hell up!" Johnson could be heard yelling.

"Shit… we're dead…" Marie muttered.

"What now?" Pearl asked.

"Uh…" Before Marie could formulate a plan, the doors were barged open, and multiple police officers, with Johnson up front, marched in, pointing their chargers at the trio.

"HANDS UP!" He yelled. "You are under arrest!"

* * *

**That Night**

**Inkopolis Police Station**

**2:30 AM**

Johnson smiled a little. "That's quite the story you got there."

Marie sighed again, struggling against her handcuffs in an attempt to get comfortable. She hadn't told him anything about the Splatoon, or anything about them being secret agents, but they were suspicious as hell anyway. "I'm telling you, I don't know what's in the suitcase. All we know… is that it's dangerous… We were just trying to protect your assholes."

"Protection…" He laughed a little, prompting an annoyed stare from Marie. "Well… Luckily for you, we're going to know soon anyway. We couldn't crack the code to break into the case before, but we got your Marina friend to do it. She's cracking it as we speak."

"And then?"

"And then if it's what we fear it is, you're going straight to prison. All three of you. We'll handle the weapon from there."

Marie sighed, looking down. This was quite the pickle. "I just… I just wanna say… that our intentions were good."

"Maybe, but there's a word for people like you. It's called vigilantism."

Marie rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, the door opened, as Johnson's partner and Marina walked in with the suitcase. "She cracked the code. We're ready to open it." His partner said.

Marina nervously stood by the back, held by Johnson's partner so that she wouldn't try to run or whatever, obviously fearful of whatever may be in the case.

Johnson set the case on the table in front of Marie and surveyed it. The whole room tensed up as he prepared to open it. "Gloves?" He asked his partner.

His partner nodded and handed him some protective gloves. Johnson carefully slipped them on, slowly opening the case.

Marie felt like she would pass out from the tension of whatever this weapon was. What if it was a bomb that was set to immediately detonate once the case was opened? She looked over to Marina, didn't look too excited either, and she even thought she saw her knees shaking.

Johnson took a deep breath, and time seemed to slow down as he slowly opened it. Once the case was open, he looked inside. "…What the hell…?"

Everyone tensed up even further as he reached inside and pulled it out for the room to see.

It was… a frisbee. A simple, red, plastic frisbee.

Everyone stared at it in disbelief. "Is that… is that a frisbee?" His partner asked.

"I… I think so…" Johnson awkwardly said, surveying it closely, turning it in all sorts of directions.

Marie sighed as she came down from her panic attack. "…God dammit, Gramps…"

"It's… it's just a frisbee…" Johnson repeated, looking a little annoyed. He set it down. "Ms. Cuttlefish… Ms. Ida… You and Ms. Hime are free to go…" He said, sighing deeply.

Marie stared at nothing in pure disbelief as Johnson's partner uncuffed Marina and then her. She stood up from the table, rubbing her wrists. "You have… GOT to be kidding me…"

* * *

**Three Days Later**

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!?" Marie yelled.

"I… I… I'm sorry, young lady…" Cap'n Cuttlefish awkwardly said. "I was under the impression it was a highly dangerous weapon…"

"HOW!? IT WAS A FUCKING FRISBEE!"

Cap'n Cuttlefish, Callie, Marie, Bridgett, and Jessica were all sitting awkwardly in the living room of Marie's apartment.

Cuttlefish sighed. "Well… to be fair, I never saw what was in the suitcase… I just found the suitcase, and some kid down in the Metro told me it was dangerous, and I-"

"You are so god damn SENILE!" Marie yelled one last time, interrupting him.

"Marie…" Callie said.

Cuttlefish looked a little hurt by what she just said, and she noticed, so she took a moment to calm down. "I… I'm sorry… I'm just a little pissed…"

"A little?" Callie asked.

"It's no problem, young lady." Cuttlefish sighed, shakily standing up and grabbing his cane. He walked up to Marie. "You are so brave to even take on the mission… I'm so proud of you… All of you. Yeah, sure, I fucked up, but… your bravery is still so real… and I'm happy for that."

Marie sighed, looking him in the eyes, not knowing how to respond.

"Thanks, Gramps…" Callie said, smiling a little.

Marie decided to drop her anger, listening to him. "I'm sorry, I… I love you, Gramps. Just… make sure you start double checking on so-called serious problems."

Cuttlefish smiled through his beard. "Will do, young lady." He hugged her.

Marie returned the hug.

When the hug broke, Cuttlefish stood as high as he could. "Now… You all are aware that Agent 3 and I will be gone for a little while… right?"

"Yeah… I know… important shit…" Marie sighed.

He nodded. "Correct. And you know what that means… I want you to take good care of the Splatoon while I'm gone. So if the Great Zapfish goes missing or whatever like it did last time we went away…"

"I'll hire an Agent 9 through a storm drain." She smiled a little. "No, I'm kidding. I'm sure Four will be available. I'm not doing the whole hiring thing again…"

Cuttlefish smiled again. "I know you'll do great." He turned to Jessica. "Alright then… duty calls…"

Jessica nodded and turned to Bridgett as Cuttlefish began walking toward the door. "Remember what I said about doing anything stupid while I'm out?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll stay close to the ground." Bridgett replied.

"Good…" She patted her on the shoulder. "See ya, Eight."

Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, Bridgett launched forward, pulling Jessica into a hug. "Stay safe…"

Callie and Marie both raised their eyebrows as they watched, but Jessica just returned the hug. "I will."

Bridgett awkwardly broke the hug, and Jessica nodded. She grabbed her duffle bag she had with her, and together with Cuttlefish, stepped out of the apartment, with Bridgett, Callie, and Marie all watching and waving goodbye.

Once the door was shut, Marie turned to Bridgett. "…What happened to your deep hatred for her?"

"I… I don't know…" Bridgett said awkwardly.

* * *

Later that day, Bridgett was making her way through the city along the sidewalk, heading back to Pearl and Marina's house, with a backpack strung over her shoulder. She sighed, pulling out her golden toothpick she had been carrying around lately. She eyed it for a moment. It really was a beautiful little thing, wasn't it?

She remembered the dream she had to go through to even feel worthy enough to grab it. The fight with her Inner Agent 3. She still didn't quite understand the meaning yet, but she knew she would one day. Sighing, she carefully inserted it through her tentacles, letting it stick out of her hair.

As she walked on for another while, it was starting to get dark out. As she passed a convenience store, however, she stopped as she heard a lot of commotion coming from inside.

She sighed deeply, looking through the window. "…Again?" Sure enough, the place was being robbed, and the cashier was being held at gun point.

She was aware what Jessica warned her about, and that she really should just stay quiet and walk away. Yet, one question circled through her head.  _'What would Three do?'_

Barely hesitating, she leaned down and opened up her backpack, pulling out her Octoshot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so as I was saying earlier, yes, I'm gonna try and put more focus into A3:E from this point forward. I will say, however, that doesn't mean this story is cancelled whatsoever, because believe it or not I have quite a few ideas for this going forward. If I can find the time, motivation, and reasons to update this story from time to time while I'm mainly working on the other story, I will do that because that's the whole reason this story even exists, for me to work on something while I'm bored. Just don't be surprised if Agent 3 is absent from this story for a while if that's the case. Also don't be surprised if I just straight up don't update this again until A3:E is complete, but I don't know, that entirely depends on how my motivation goes. Anyway... see you around. *waves*


	7. Splatocalypse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team reacts to the results of the Final Fest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I suppose I lied about the last chapter being the last chapter before A3:E, because I ended up deciding to write this in celebration for the Final Fest real quick. Just gonna admit right now though, this chapter doesn't have too much to it. It's both short and basically just another dialogue chapter without a strong focus so, yeah, honestly don't expect too much from this chapter, lol. I'll save the more story-based chapters for another little while.
> 
> Also, I suppose I should warn you all that there's a bit of a sexual scene in this chapter. It's nothing too explicit, and in my opinion it's nothing that breaks the T rating, but I don't want anyone to be caught off guard either so consider yourselves warned.

"Guys! They're about to announce the winner!" Marie called out through her apartment.

"Oh, goodie!" Callie yelled back. Before long, everyone that was hanging out in the apartment gathered in the living room, sitting on the multiple couches in front of the flat-screen TV on Marie's wall. Bridgett, Dylan, and Sheldon were among Callie and Marie. The TV was currently on commercial break, but was about to broadcast the Off the Hook news show. Everyone in the room had a beer in their hand.

"Ok, guys!" Marie called out to keep the group settled. "I need a reminder… what team are you all on? Because I'd place your bets now."

"Order." Bridgett chimed in first. "I mean… Jesus, guys, would you really want a world of chaos? Like, come on, use your brains…"

"Yes, actually, I would." Callie argued. "I'm Chaos all the way." She shot her drink into the air. "Chaos! Chaos! Chaos!"

"Well, I'm Team Order." Marie said. "Because, in a world of chaos… everything that we know and love would come crashing down, wouldn't it?"

Bridgett gestured her hand to Marie. "Yes, exactly. Thank you. Thank you!"

"Ha! Who fucking cares though!?" Callie replied. "At least in a world of chaos, we'd get to do whatever we want. Do you even know what would happen in a world of order?" She gave a salute for show. "Hail Octavio, assholes. Brainwashing goggles for everyone."

"I don't believe that." Marie responded.

"Well, you should, because order is broken and doesn't work."

"I mean… it's better than chaos."

Bridgett smiled and turned to Dylan. "Dylan… You're on Order… right?"

Dylan scratched the back of his head. "Um… about that…"

She gasped a little. "You wouldn't…"

"I joined Team Chaos…"

"God dammit."

"Aw, no, Four, you're a traitor!" Marie exclaimed.

"Ha! Four knows what's up!" Callie said, once again suddenly slapping his behind.

Dylan once again jumped up in surprise, spilling his drink a little.

Marie shook her head with a smile.

"Hey… where's Three and Cuttlefish?" Sheldon asked.

"They're on a mission." Marie replied. "They're both on Team Order though. I called Gramps about it."

"Really? Three? On Order?" Dylan asked. "Bullshit…"

"It's true. She told me herself."

Bridgett herself looked at the ground in confusion, aware that Jessica's personality didn't really fit Order at all. Or… perhaps it did?

Marie giggled. "What about you, Sheldon?"

The whole group turned to look at Sheldon, who stared back in silence for a moment awkwardly. "Uhhhhh…" He sighed. "Neither?"

"Excuse me?"

"I am… Team Neutral. Because I don't really care."

"Aw, come on."

"Boo!" Callie yelled.

"That's not even a real team…"

"Well, seriously, I just don't care that much…" Sheldon said. "I mean… you guys can just have fun with it, but it's just not for me."

Marie scoffed. "Uh… whatever… party pooper."

The familiar Off the Hook intro suddenly started as the news came on, and everyone eagerly took their seats. "Ooh, boy, it's time!" Marie continued. "Everybody quiet!"

Pearl and Marina popped up on screen.  _"Y'all know what time it is!"_ Pearl started.

_"It's Off the Hook, coming at you LIVE from Inkopolis Square!"_ Marina replied. Just as usual.

The screen did a little transition.  _"Marina! Before we announce the stages, why don't you share the breaking news?"_

_"Breaking news? What did you break this time?"_

Dylan sighed. "They really gotta get new lines for these…"

"Shh!" Everyone in the room but Sheldon and Dylan erupted, especially Callie and Marie.

Pearl and Marina continued to announce the results as usual, and ultimately, Team Chaos completely obliterated Team Order 3-0.

_"CHAOS REIGNS!"_ Pearl blurted out.

_"NOOOOOOOOO!"_ Marina yelled out dramatically.

"Yes!" Callie suddenly burst out.

"God DAMMIT!" Marie suddenly yelled. "I bet a lot of money on this splatfest!"

Bridgett frowned, and Dylan smiled.

_"INKOPOLIS IS DOOMED!"_ Marina continued.

_"MUAHAHAHAHA!"_ Pearl exclaimed.

Bridgett cringed a little at their over-the-top reactions.

_"It's time for everything to change… And it starts with Off the Hook."_ Pearl continued.

Marina only responded with a frown.

_"Marina… These last few years have been amazing… Easily the best years of my life. But I can't shake the feeling that we're missing out on other experiences."_

Bridgett's eyes actually went a bit wide as she listened. What was she saying?

_"Pearl. You don't have to do this."_ Marina said.

_"Let me finish, Marina. I thought about this for the entire Splatfest. And I've made up my mind."_

Marina appeared to be fighting back tears as she braced for whatever Pearl was about to say.

_"It's time for Off the Hook to break-"_

_"NO! Don't say it!"_

The whole room went mostly dead silent in shock.

"Oh my god…" Marie gasped a little.

_"It's time for Off the Hook to break… into new genres of music."_

Then everyone in the room, including Sheldon, sighed from relief. Bridgett smiled a little.

_"Flip hop. Cuddlecore. You name it! WE GONNA TAKE OVER THE WORLD!"_ Pearl continued.

_"WHAT!? So Off the Hook isn't breaking up!?"_

_"What!? HECK NO! You and me are gonna rock the mic together until the end of time! Or at least until I can get my solo career off the ground."_

Marina gave her an angry stare.

_"BAHAHA! I'm just playin', Marina. You know I love you."_

_"Pearlie… I… I…"_ She suddenly broke down into tears on camera.  _"I'm so happy right now…"_

_"It's you and me against the universe, 'Rina! Let's wake the sleepin' giants with our sloppy sonic science!"_

Marina continued to cry, sniffling.  _"Yeah… Let's bring our bumpin' beats to the oceans and the streets!"_

They continued on the news as normal while thanking everyone who participated in the splatfest, and everyone stopped paying attention.

"Wow… that was…" Marie started. "That was actually pretty heartwarming…"

"They have pretty strong chemistry. It's almost as if they're in a romantic relationship." Callie said with a smile. "In fact, it actually makes me kinda jealous…"

Bridgett just smiled.

* * *

**Later that Day**

**Marina's House**

Bridgett opened the door, letting Dylan inside. "Quite the day…"

"Yeah… Victory for Team Chaos." He pumped his fist up in the air in celebration.

"But you told me you were gonna join Order…"

"I'm sorry, it's just… Chaos is so much cooler." He admitted with a smile. "Order is boring…"

"You're boring." She said teasingly.

"That's mean."

"So, uh…" She relaxed on the couch. "I don't think Pearl and Marina are home yet. Anything you wanna do?"

He relaxed next to her. "I mean… I could probably think of a couple things."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Like, uh… we could… watch television…"

"Oh, come on, you idiot." Bridgett suddenly said, leaning in. "I know one thing we could do…" She leaned to kiss him, but suddenly, they heard a crash from Marina's bedroom. "…What the hell?"

"Um… I thought they weren't home?"

"...Maybe they are… Or maybe… someone broke in…" She pulled out her Octoshot. Dylan, catching on, pulled out his Hero Shot.

Dylan looked at her hands, noticing a bit of a bruise on her knuckles. "Hey… what happened to your hand?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it…"

The two stealthily headed to the back of the house toward Marina's room. As they got closer to the door, they began to hear some… interesting sounds.

"Um… Bridgett… Maybe we should…" Dylan tried to interject, but Bridgett curiously knocked on the door.

"Marina? You there?"

In response, they suddenly heard and even louder crash, and someone fall off the bed.

"Marina!?"

The door suddenly slammed open, and Marina was using the bed sheets to cover her body up as if she was naked. "Uh… Hi, Eight…"

This was actually the first time they had spoken to each other in a little while, but Bridgett ignored that. "...What are you doing…?"

"Uh… What are you doing?"

"Wondering what the hell you're doing. Are you naked? And…" She looked at her neck, noticing a bit of a bite mark. "Oh my god, did someone attack you!?"

She blushed and covered it up. "Um… no… it's not like that…"

"Then what happened!?"

Pearl suddenly came up, also using some bed sheets to cover herself up. "Hi, Eight!"

It was at this point that Bridgett made a realization to what was going on, and she blushed heavily. "Umm…" She backed up a little.

Marina cleared her throat. "Um… how about we just talk later?"

"...Good call…"

"Ok." Then, Marina abruptly slammed the door.

Bridgett turned to look at Dylan, her eyes wide. "What… the fuck…"

"I tried to tell you not to knock…" Dylan responded.

* * *

That night, Dylan, Bridgett, Pearl, and Marina were all still hanging out at Marina's place, with Dylan in the living room watching the news. The news was currently interviewing people who participated in the Splatfest.

_"And what team did you pick?"_ The female interviewer said.

_"Order."_  Two male Inklings said.

Dylan looked at the screen curiously, feeling like he recognized them both from somewhere. "…Is that Scooch?"

Bridgett peeked in. "From Grizzco?"

"Yeah…"

Sure enough, their names popped up screen.  **Toon and Scooch (Real Names Withheld for Privacy).**

"...Huh… I wonder what he's been up to." Bridgett questioned.

_"We played for all three days, we poured our ink, sweat, and tears into that sh*t, and we still lost."_ Scooch said with a sigh.  _"Like, uh, thanks b*tches."_

_"Why did you side with Order?"_ The interviewer asked.

Toon took a moment to respond.  _"I think I just really wanted to side with Marina, honestly…"_

The screen cut to a married couple, the guy having blue ink and the girl having pink ink. Their names quickly came up on screen.  **Ethan and Amelia.**

_"And what team did you pick?"_ The interviewer asked again.

_"Well, I picked Order because it's, like, it's just the morally correct option in every way, but…"_ Amelia sighed.  _"Ethan didn't quite agree…"_

_"I picked Chaos."_ Ethan responded.  _"We had… quite the disagreement over it. Huge argument about morals. You should've seen it."_

The screen cut again to a single nasty looking Inkling, who appeared to be missing an eye. He stared angrily into the camera.

_"And what team did you pick?"_ The interviewer asked again.

Instead of answering the question, he suddenly grunted.  _"Welcome to the splatocalypse, Ms. Interview Lady."_ He leaned into the camera, lowering his voice to a near threatening level.  _"I hope you like leather…"_

"Ok, children, soup's on!" Marina called out from the kitchen.

Dylan sighed and turned off the television, walking into the kitchen. The four sat down at the table, eating their food.

"Thanks for staying for dinner, Four." Marina said with a welcoming smile.

"Oh, yeah, it's no problem." Dylan replied, eating his food.

"Man, it's been a long few days… three nights in a row of just Splatfest…" She sighed. "I wanna sleep for a week…"

"Not to mention that I had to scream into the killer wail on the last shifty station a lot…" Pearl sighed. "How even did you get permission to build that thing right next to the NILS statue remains?"

"...I didn't." Marina admitted.

Bridgett sighed, noticing that Pearl and Marina were sitting closer together than usual. "So, uh… am I allowed to ask?"

Marina looked at her. "Ask what?"

"About… what's going on with you two all of a sudden…?"

Marina and Pearl blushed, looking at each other. "Should we tell them?" Marina asked.

"I don't know, should we?"

"Do you want to?"

"I don't care."

"Ok then." Marina smiled to turned back to them. "As of today… Pearlie and I are officially dating!"

Pearl suddenly wrapped an arm around Marina, pulling her in to pose with h.

Bridgett and Dylan awkwardly looked at each other, then back at the new couple. "I… wow… that's… I'm so happy for you." Bridgett said.

"You don't seem happy." Pearl accused.

"I'm just… a bit shocked, is all…"

"Congratulations." Dylan said.

"Thank you, guys." Marina said, smiling brightly.

Bridgett brushed her shock and resentment toward Marina to the side the moment, suddenly standing up and going around the table to hug Marina. Marina stood up as well and returned the hug.

"Aw, Eight…"

"I know we haven't been talking a lot lately, but… I am happy for you…" Bridgett sighed.

"Yeah… I've… missed talking with you, Eight…"

A flash suddenly lit up the room as Pearl took a picture on her phone. "Aaaand… saved."

Marina broke the hug and giggled, returning to her food. "I feel like… despite the whole chaos thing happening, and… Three leaving for a while… things are looking up. Maybe."

"I mean, if you ask me, things have already been looking up, but… alright." Dylan responded.

Bridgett sat back down next to him with a smile.

It was at this point that Marina also noticed the bruises on Bridgett's knuckles. "Hey… what's up with your hands?"

"Oh…" She hid them underneath the table. "I… don't worry about it…"

Marina and Dylan glanced at each other with somewhat concerned looks, but ultimately shrugged it off, going back to their food.

* * *

**Marie's Apartment**

Callie and Marie were hanging out in Marie's room, relaxing under the foot of her bed.

"Thanks for finding time in your schedule to sleep over, girl." Marie said, smiling a little. "I really appreciate the company."

"Oh, yeah, of course!" Callie said with a grin. "I've been wanting to hang out with you more lately…"

Marie nodded gratefully.

"Just feels like we haven't seen each other that much since… you know. Octo Canyon…"

"Ever since our final Splatfest, really." Marie sighed. "But it's alright. I know we both have busy schedules…"

"Yeah, but it's just…" Callie sighed a little. "I was thinking about Off the Hook a lot today, and… how tight they seem."

"Oh?"

"Just… the way they handled their own final Splatfest, I just… feel like we fucked up. We let ourselves get torn apart by ours…"

"Hey… You don't need to worry about that. Really."

"I know, but just… I can't help but wonder if we could have… kept going. What if we never really broke up the Squid Sisters?"

"I mean… The Squid Sisters are back together."

"I know, but… just barely. We're still mostly just doing our own solo careers, and I… I miss the old days…"

Marie sighed and nodded. "…Yeah… Yeah, I miss the old days, too…" She sighed and looked at her. "But… at least we still have each other. Things could've gone way worse after Octo Canyon."

"...I know…"

"Hey. Come on." She held out her pinkie. "Squid Sisters forever."

She smiled and took the pinkie with her own. "Squid Sisters forever."

Marie smiled back and cuddled with her a little, laying her head on her shoulder. "I think we should try to hang out more. Things get kinda lonely these days anyway."

"Yeah…"

"I did talk to Marina about maybe doing a ladies' night out, if you wanted to join that."

"Oh, sounds fun."

Marie smiled. "It will be fun. Plus… apparently you're getting along well with Pearl all of a sudden?"

"Yeah, that's an interesting story…"

"Came out of nowhere too, to be honest…"

"It did happen pretty suddenly."

"Hm… Did you wanna… watch a movie?"

"Oh… uh… sure."

Marie nodded and the two sat up on the bed, turning on the TV she had in her room. Then they laid back and kicked their feet up, relaxing for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanna remind you real quick for those that don't remember, but Scooch is once again based off my friend oRpheusB20 here. So check out her stories on FFnet if you haven't already. Yeah, ok, anyway, see you around. *waves*


	8. Ladies' Night Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callie, Marie, Pearl, and Marina head out to a dance club for a girl's night, and Marie soon finds herself in a feud with old rivals. Meanwhile, Bridgett sets out to stop a dangerous weapons deal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again, told you I wasn't killing this story. So, a few things to say before we start. First of all, for those of you who are reading Agent 3: Execution, you're probably wondering: If this story is in continuity with that, how the hell can this chapter take place while the chaos of that story is currently going on? To put it simply, this chapter takes place before A3:E picks up, in a period of time where Agent 3 is hunting down the Underdogs, and the same will go for any other chapters for this I release while that story is still being written. The two stories still share continuity, and the events of A3:E will impact this story when I finish it if you were wondering.
> 
> Second, this chapter marks the return of a couple OCs I introduced way back when I wrote Splatoon Island, which is also in continuity with this. For those of you that don't know, Splatoon Island was a one-shot I wrote for the SWC One-Shot Collection collab, which is published by ZygardeFusion on Fanfiction (it's also just a standalone one-shot I published on my own if you're on Ao3), so check that out if you haven't already. Anyway, a bit of a disclaimer as a result: The OCs I mentioned are based off of designs from Mike Inel, even if I personally gave them their personalities and identities beyond that. So credit to him for that.
> 
> Third, another disclaimer, but the song Bad Reputation and its lyrics belong to Joan Jett, so again, credit to her for that. Anyway, that was a lot to say, but we shall begin now.

"Hm… Off duty…" Marie sighed to herself. She was wearing her usual kimono, and had her umbrella prop over her head casually as she stood about. It was the usual day in Octo Canyon; her lazily standing around just to make sure DJ Octavio wouldn't break out of his snowglobe prison. Of course, Octavio never actually broke out, even when she wasn't there, but today, that would finally change.

"Food… Water… Oxygen…" were the first words Marie heard right after the glass broke behind her, and Octavio slid out, lazily lying on the found. She slowly turned around to face him, an incredibly bored expression on her face. "…Please help…" He mumbled.

Marie groaned, pulling out her charger. "Ugh… don't make me feel bad for you…" She went over to him, holding the charger over his head so she could easily splat him if she needed to. "Don't move."

"Why not? What have I ever done to deserve this? I'm just a guy…" He said in a very poor attempt at lying.

"You're a real asshole leader to the Octarians and you kidnapped the Great Zapfish twice."

"Well, what was I supposed to do? It's not exactly easy to get power otherwise these days, you know…" He attempted to sit up. "What have I ever done to you to make you so mad at me?"

"You kidnapped and enslaved my cousin by brainwashing her."

"...Oh yeah."

"Back in the snowglobe. Come on." She said, motioning her charger toward it.

Octavio groaned and climbed back in, allowing Marie to begin repairing the glass by taping it together. "I hate you." He grumbled.

"The feeling's mutual."

Around that moment, Marie heard a plopping noise coming from the storm drain. She turned around to see Dylan standing there, in his complete Hero Outfit.

"Hey." Dylan said as usual.

"Ah. Four. Just the man I wanted to see." Marie said, putting away her charger and returning to standing by the cabin.

"So, uh… what'd you call me in for?"

"Simple." She pointed toward Octavio.

Dylan followed her point, quickly looking annoyed. "…Oh no…"

"Callie and I are going out tonight with Pearl and Marina. Ladies' night out." Marie said. "I need someone to be keeping an eye on the snowglobe while I'm away."

He sighed deeply. "Ok, I understand, but… why me? Come on… can't you, like… call Eight or someone instead?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I actually like and respect Eight."

A small noise escaped his mouth as he stared in disappointment.

She rolled her eyes. "Relax. I'm kidding. You know I like you. And that's exactly why I called you instead of Eight, because I trust you to do it."

He sighed again, taking a moment to think about it. "…Fine… fucking… whatever…"

"That's my Four." She smiled, patting his arm.

They heard another plop coming from the storm drain. "Ayo, guys!" Callie yelled, wearing her usual basic shirt and jacket. She quickly walked over to hug Marie. "You ready to be girls for a night!?"

Marie giggled, returning the hug. "Hey, Callie. I was just about to get ready." When they broke apart, Marie stepped inside the cabin to get changed and grab some stuff.

Callie turned to Dylan. "Hey, Four! How's Eight's ass?"

Dylan sighed and ignored the question. "Nice to see you too, Agent 1."

Callie winked. A few moments later, Marie came out in more casual clothing. "You ready?"

"Hell, yeah! Let's go paint the town red!" Callie said enthusiastically.

Marie turned back to Four. "If he breaks out of the snowglobe like he did literally a couple minutes ago, just tape it back together. Should be fine." She patted his shoulder again as she headed to the storm drain.

"Um… ok…" He sighed, watching as they prepared to leave. "You need me to do anything else?"

She shrugged. "Keep the skies clear." She said, as she disappeared down the storm drain, followed by Callie.

* * *

**Inkopolis Square**

Callie and Marie plopped out the other end of the sewer near the Grizzco building, and started walking down the sidewalk.

Callie turned to some of the random people in the area, shooting her fist into the air. "Happy girl's night, everyone!"

Marie grabbed her arm to keep her close. "Maybe keep it a bit quiet there, I mean… we're kind of celebrities out in public right now without our disguises…"

The same moment that Marie said that, some random Inkling pointed at them. "Oh my god… it's the Squid Sisters!"

"God dammit…" She muttered as everyone in the area immediately began to swarm them.

It took a few minutes to make it out of the square and away from the crowd, but eventually, they headed away and began headed down the sidewalk.

Callie seemed incredibly jittery from excitement. "Are you excited?"

"Yeah, I'm excited. I organized this, you know." Marie noticed how jittery Callie was. "…Are… you excited…?"

"HELL YEAH! This is gonna be OFF THE HOOK!"

"Heh… yeah, just remember to keep it down for now, please…" She responded.

"Speaking of Off the Hook… where's our ride?"

"Straight ahead." Marie pointed to the same suspicious white van that they had used during their recent "dangerous weapon" mission.

The van suddenly sounded off a small excerpt of  _La Cucaracha,_ followed by "Pearlie, will you please stop honking the horn?" from inside.

"I'm sorry, I just really like the horn." Pearl responded.

Marie smiled as the Squid Sisters circled around to enter the van, entering from behind to see Pearl and Marina. "Hey, girls!" She called.

"Hey!" Marina responded, going up to hug them. "You ready for girl's night?"

"Hell yeah!" Callie yelled out again, shooting both fists into the air. "WE'RE GONNA PAINT THE TOWN RED!"

"YEAH YEAH YEAH!" Pearl then screamed.

Marina giggled. "Plus, I'm sure Eight is deeply enjoying the time she has to herself at home…"

"You know that she's probably gonna invite Dylan over and they're gonna fuck right there in our house again, right?" Pearl said.

"Actually, I already thought ahead and took care of that for you guys. I got Four to watch Octavio for the night instead." Marie said with a grin.

"Heh… smart…" Marina responded. "Thanks for that, you're such a goddess…"

"No problem. So, anyway… what's with the horn? I didn't know this van had a horn like that…"

"Oh… Pearlie said it makes her feel like Ant-Lady or something, so I installed it for her."

"Well, I am Ant-Lady!" Pearl responded.

"...I still don't know what you mean by Ant-Lady…" Marie said.

"I guess I'll have to tell you. So, once upon a time, there was a time loop-" Pearl started, but was suddenly interrupted by Marina.

"Save it, Pearlie, we'll have plenty of time to talk about the time loop later. For now… let's have ourselves that girl's day!" She called out.

Everyone in the van cheered.

* * *

**Meanwhile, at Marina's House**

Since the time Pearl and Marina left for their ladies' night out, Bridgett had already transformed the living room into her personal party area. There was a radio in the corner of the room blasting some of her favorite music she had been listening to since she moved to Inkopolis (much of which was shown to her by Pearl and Marina themselves), there were a whole bunch of snacks laid out on the coffee table, and her favorite cartoon, Invader Squid, was on the TV with subtitles on just so she could watch it while listening to her music. Bridgett herself was lazily laid back on the couch, swinging her foot back and forth casually as she ate from her bowl of chips and watched her show. She giggled occasionally to it as well, loving how insane and whacky it was.

Eventually, her own personal girl's night was interrupted as the Calamari Inkantation blasted from her ringtone. She groaned, pulled it out of her pocket, and answered it. "Hello?"

It was Dylan.  _"Bridge? Hello? What the hell is with that noise?"_

"I'm… listening to music. Pearl and Marina aren't home so I'm taking advantage. What's up?"

_"So… Marie has me stuck here at Octo Canyon… watching Octavio…"_

"Ouch. Sounds boring…"

_"It… it is… I was wondering if you wanted to stop by and… keep me company?"_

"Ah, I don't know… I have stuff I was gonna do tonight…"

_"Like what? It sounds like you're just goofing off…"_

"Well, for now I am, but I was gonna go out… and… hold my own girl's night. I guess."

_"...Are you serious? With who?"_

"...Myself."

_"Come on, Eight, I don't really wanna piss off Marie by abandoning my post and I'm right here by Cuttlefish Cabin. We could have some fun here…"_

"With Octavio watching?"

_"He's stuck in his snowglobe, he won't see anything."_

"Still… you know how I feel about even being in the presence of Octavio these days…"

_"...Yeah, that's true…but… just… please? Come on, I'm really bored here…"_

"Sorry, babe, but I told you, I have stuff to do tonight."

He sighed.  _"…Yeah, fine, whatever… you go out and have fun while I just sit here… with Octavio staring at me… Hey, stop staring at me, by the way."_

"Love you…" Bridgett finished.

Dylan just hung up without saying anything more. Bridgett shrugged, hung up as well, and slipped her phone back in her pocket as she returned to her lazy position for a while.

* * *

**Back with the Popstars**

"So what's our first stop for the night?" Marina asked as she drove around Inkopolis.

"Um…" Marie pulled up an address on her phone. "…This club right here. Good place to dance and get drunk."

"Got it." She replied, beginning to drive in the direction of the address. "This is gonna be so fun…"

"And we've totally earned it!"

"Get some music on! Get some music on!" Callie yelled.

"On it!" Marina replied, turning on the radio. Her own Ebb & Flow started playing.

"WOO!" Pearl screamed in response. "I love this one!"

Marina giggled, but Marie sighed. "Um… no… if you want real music…" She took out her phone and connected it to the radio, and soon, the Calamari Inkantation suddenly took over. "NOW it's a party!"

"Hey…" Marina said, turning the radio back to Ebb & Flow. "Just so you know, this is technically my van. I choose the music."

Marie looked at her with an unamused expression. "…If you wanna talk about technically, then this isn't your van, it's the Splatoon's. And I have the most authority in the Splatoon than anyone here, so…" She turned it back to the Inkantation. " _I_ control the music."

"Um…" Marina turned it back to Ebb & Flow. "It doesn't matter if it's the Splatoon's van because I am the driver and you should know that the driver always picks the music."

Marie turned it back to the Inkantation. "Well, it doesn't matter that you're the driver, because, guess what, I organized this entire girl's night for us all so I should be able to control the music as well."

Marina was about to turn it back to her music, when suddenly the van was taken over by loud heavy metal music. Both girls groaned and looked back at Pearl to see that she had overridden the radio herself.

"And  _I_ say that I'm the rap queen and the rap queen controls all music!" Pearl screamed at them above the music.

Marie gave up and turned it back to Ebb & Flow. "Your music is fine…"

"Good call…" Marina replied casually. Soon, they pulled up to the club that Marie pointed them to, and everyone got by the window to look at it. They could already hear loud club music coming from inside. "Ok… you guys ready?"

"Yep!" Callie said.

"Yeperoni." Pearl added.

"Alright…" Marie got up and dug around in a bag she had with her, before suddenly pulling out her Squid Sisters outfit for them to see. "Let's get dressed!"

A few minutes later, the four got out of the van and entered the club in their full Off the Hook and Squid Sisters outfits.

Marie looked around the area. "Ok, remember girls, you guys can get as drunk as you want, but I'm staying sober for this one. Because we need someone to drive us back and whatever… so don't pester me to start drinking, got it?"

"Whatever…" Callie said as she immediately went off to the bar area. "LET'S HAVE SOME FUN!" She screamed out above the music.

Marie giggled and turned to Marina. "Let's hit the dance floor!"

"Fuck yeah!" Marina responded, as the three walked over to it.

* * *

**Back with Bridgett**

Bridgett, meanwhile, was still lying in the same exact position around an hour later. She had turned down her music, and her cartoon was still playing in the background despite the fact she wasn't paying attention anymore and had actually dozed off on the spot, with the bowl of chips she was eating spilled all over the floor. Having been asleep for several minutes now, she was only ever awoken by her phone alarm going off.

"Hm?" She mumbled as she drifted awake. "Marina…?" It took her a few moments to gather her thoughts and locate where the music was coming from, before she pulled out her phone to look. She blinked a couple times to clear her vision, and then read out what the alarm on her phone was saying.

**IMPORTANT! Stop Bad Guy Weapons Deal**

"Oh… SHIT…!" She groaned to herself as she realized she was running late, and shot up from the couch. Yes, she did indeed have her own plans for a personal "girl's night", and that entirely revolved around protecting the city for a night. She ran to her room to grab her gear, getting undressed to her underwear along the way.

She quickly located her gear that she kept hidden in her closet, which was just the test outfit she wore back down in the Deepsea Metro, minus the yellow bracelet tags, as well as her Octo Shot and some Splat Bombs. She quickly threw on the outfit, accidentally crashing into the dresser as she did with an "Ow!", and then gripped her weapon as she quickly headed out.

She passed the living room again, not even bothering to clean up after herself or even turn off the TV, instead heading straight out the front door. She looked around to make sure no one was around to see her, and after making sure the coast was clear, reverted to her octopus form. After building up momentum for a second, she suddenly blasted off into the night air with a super jump.

* * *

**Back with the Popstars**

After about an hour of Marie, Marina, and Pearl dancing about randomly, gaining a lot of attention from the other dancers on the dance floor, Callie was still sitting at the bar, drunk as hell already. She wasn't alone, however, as she was talking with an equally drunk Inkling guy who happened to be sitting around.

"So…" Callie said, her voice a bit slurred.

"So…" The guy said back, his voice also a bit slurred.

Silence for a few moments. "…Do you like music…?"

"...Yeah, I like music…" He gave a strange smile.

"...What kind of music…?"

"...Birds…"

She giggled. "…Ah…"

"...What about you…?"

"...Heh… You ever listen to Bomb Rush Blush...? It's the greatest song… like… ever… and ever… and ever…"

"...No…"

Her drunk smile melted into a disappointed frown. "…You suck…"

"...Yeah…"

Around that moment, Marie pushed through the crowd to the bar area. "Hey, Callie! You around here?" She looked around in search of her cousin, occasionally calling out her name, when eventually, she finally saw her. "Yo, Callie!" It took her only another split second as she got closer to realize that Callie was already making out with her new drunk friend. "Oh…"

She went over and tapped on her shoulder. "Callie…"

Callie broke the kiss and looked at her, groaning. "What, you slut…?"

"Hey. No one-night stands while you're drunk tonight. I don't want you getting pregnant. Come on, we talked about this." She grabbed her arm and started pulling her away.

"Ugh, fiiiiiine… you slut…"

"...Stop calling me a slut."

She starting walking with her, Marie holding her for support. "What do you want…?"

"I just wanted to get you away from the bars. I know how you can be when you get too drunk."

"Bitch, I'm fine…" She muttered, burping. "You're walking funny…"

She looked down at her feet, and then back at Callie. "…No I'm not."

"You slut…"

This time, she just rolled her eyes and found a place to sit her down. "There you are… You know, I was hoping you'd come to the floor and dance with us, but… now you're too drunk to even stand on your own…"

"Bitch, I'm fine…" She repeated. "You're drunk…"

"Just relax." She patted her shoulder. "I'm gonna go find Pearl and Marina. Remember. No one-night stands."

Callie stuck out her tongue and made a spitting noise in annoyance.

Marie ignored her and returned to the dance floor. "Yo, Marina! You around here!?" She yelled above the music. "Marina!"

After a few moments of looking and shouting their names in vain, the whole room was suddenly enveloped in pink and green light as the music stopped; the same shades mainly used by that of Pearl and Marina, and the next thing Marie knew, the opening notes to Color Pulse shook the area. The crowd exploded in cheers. They must have paid the club owners to get their own stage time.

Marie looked up at the stage. Normally, she probably would've been annoyed, as she had organized this whole ladies' night out, and this definitely wasn't on the schedule. But, this time, she was aware that they were just out to have fun, so she shrugged it off, rolled her eyes, and grinned.

"Y'ALL FEELING FRESH OUT THERE!?" Pearl screamed.

The cheers in the room only got louder.

"Off the Hook is here to crash the party!" Marina shouted, doing a pose with a wink.

As soon as the vocal part of the song came up, they immediately began singing along, doing their usual Splatfest dance along the stage.

Marie, who was in the mood to continue dancing herself, headed to the dance floor, but suddenly crashed into a rather tall Inkling with red hair. "Oh, shit! Sorry!" She yelled above the music.

"Watch it, bitch!" The girl suddenly yelled at her, turning to her.

"I… geez… sorry, again…"

As the two girls stared at each other, they quickly noticed that they recognized each other. And the girl didn't seem happy at all. "…You…!" She hissed.

Marie stared back. "…Me… Um, I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Yo, Sunny! Check out who decided to pop in!" She suddenly yelled behind her.

A yellow-haired Inkling, apparently Sunny, walked over and joined at her side. "Well, well, well… if it isn't the lamer Squid Sister… in all her ugly glory…"

"Hey, watch it." Marie said. "Can you please just tell me who you are? Because you definitely look familiar and I can't place my finger on it…"

"I'm Dawn." She finally replied.

"Sunny." Sunny added. "You seriously don't fucking remember us?"

She took a moment to think, and then finally remembered. "…Aren't you the girls from Splatoon Island?"

"Yes, that  _you_  upstaged!" Dawn snapped.

"...What's your stage name again? I can't…" She snapped her fingers a couple times. "Don't tell me, I got it… it starts with an S…"

"...Solar Flair!"

"Right…" She sighed. "Look, I'm sure that you guys… really struggled after that, but come on guys, there was this couple who was having trouble and Callie just really wanted to-"

"Really struggled!?" She suddenly started marching toward her, getting in her face, which prompted Marie to begin backing up a little. "You ruined our career before it even started! We're nothing but a joke now, all because of you! Do you know that now, we're working in fast food because of what you did!?"

Marie accidentally snickered.

She gritted her teeth. "You are selfish… egotistical… untalented…"

Marie kept backing up until she was forced into a wall. By now, they had people staring at them. "Girls, I think there is totally a way we can work this out without you backing me up into a wall…"

"Yeah, you tell em, Marie!" Callie suddenly yelled, who was drunkly watching from where Marie sat her down.

"You embarrassed us… in public…" Dawn said angrily. "And now that you're just standing here… I just decided… we're going to embarrass you too…"

"Girls! Come on!" Marie grunted. "There are definitely more mature ways to handle this!"

She shook her head no. "Why don't you grab your Callie bitch and we'll do a dance battle? Publicly. So that the whole world gets to see how untalented you really are…"

Marie admittedly looked quite nervous. "Um… I…"

"And if you chicken out…" Sunny added. "We'll find other ways to make both of your lives a living hell…"

"...Ok, seriously? Extortion? Is that how lame you wanna be right now?" She sighed.

"So, what'll it be, Squid Sister?" Dawn asked.

Marie looked over at Callie, who was stupidly watching with her big drunk smile, and then back at Dawn, nervously rolling her eyes. "Fine… we'll do a dance battle. Just don't blame us when you get the embarrassment of us wiping the floor with you…"

"If you're so confident, then why are you nervous?" Sunny asked, both girls actually seeming confident in comparison.

Marie just audibly gulped.

* * *

**Back with Bridgett**

After several illegal super jumps and a couple breathing breaks across the city, Bridgett finally arrived in downtown Inkopolis, nearby an abandoned warehouse. It was an area where not a lot of people hung out, and was home to a lot of abandoned and run-down buildings. Again carefully looking around to make sure no one was watching her, she did one last smaller super jump to land on top of the warehouse, looking down at the people through the above windows.

Just as she suspected, the gang members inside were currently in the middle of some sort of weapons deal. There were a bunch of tables with food laid out, giving the impression they were doing it over dinner. "Right on time…" She muttered to herself, smiling. She was about to crash their fun so hard, and she was gonna enjoy it.

There were two gangs inside, some members eating dinner casually, and others presenting and trading weapons with each other. Bridgett continued watching through the windows, carefully analyzing the scene, and she was able to see that some of the weapons actually seemed incredibly dangerous. Upgraded Rainmakers, upgraded long-range Chargers, an assortment of other upgraded ink weapons and special weapons, and an assortment of knives and even what appeared to be swords.

"Woah…" Bridgett mouthed. It was what she had feared, and what she was here to stop. She continued analyzing while mentally mapping out her strategy, when suddenly, things seemed to get heated among the two gangs.

"Yo, are you trying to fuck with us?" One gang member asked.

"It's just… we put a lot of effort into upgrading these, right? And they're dangerous, so… we just though it'd be best to drop the deal and keep them ourselves." Another gang member from the opposite gang said.

"We already gave you the money! Give us the weapons!"

"We… did also still need the money. I'm sorry that we had to trick you, but come on, life is hard, you know? And it's not like there's any rules among gangs…"

"If there's no rules, then I guess no one will mind that I'm about to blow your fucking head off!" He pulled out his weapon, and immediately, as if in a domino effect, everyone pulled out their weapons, the two gangs holding each other at gun point.

"Son of a…" Bridgett said, still watching. No longer having time for a strategy, she just pulled out her Octo Shot and began kicking at the glass.

"Give us the weapons and we'll be on our way! No one needs to get hurt over this! Come on, man!"

"Well, I say fuck you, I like hurting people, so if you wanna dance, we'll fucking dance!"

"BRING IT ON THEN!"

"LET'S GO YOU FUCKING CLOWNS!"

Just before they could start shooting at each other, one window from above suddenly smashed open, raining down glass. Bridgett suddenly leaped in, landing lightly on a dinner table, Octo Shot in hand. "Hey! Hey, if you're gonna shoot at anyone, shoot at me!"

The two gangs immediately appeared to put their differences aside, all silently in favor of instead taking down the vigilante that just crashed the party.

"...Alright." One gang member said, and just like that, both gangs turned their weapons on Bridgett.

* * *

**Back with the Popstars**

"Callie? Callie." Marie shook Callie awake, who had apparently fallen asleep right where she was sitting.

Callie woke up back with a drunk groan. "Um… hey… morning…"

"It's night still. Ok, look, I… really need your help right now… I know that you're drunk and stuff right now, but..." She thought about the situation. "…Oh my god, we're just fucked, aren't we?"

She gave a drunk giggle. "Heehee… ok… what do you want…?"

"Did you forget already? Those fuckers from Splatoon Island really wanna do a dance battle… they wanna embarrass us in public, and I, in my infinite wisdom, already accepted, so… they're talking with the club owners right now, organizing it."

She only seemed to partially understand. "…Ok…? So what do you want me to do…?"

"I need you to dance with me."

"Heehee… ok…"

She grabbed her arm to help her up. "Come on. I need to see how you're holding up."

Callie stood up with Marie's help, but to Marie's fear, still didn't seem capable of standing on her own. She giggled again. "My legs feel funny…"

Marie sighed in disappointment. "…We're gonna die…"

At around that moment, the music that was currently being blasted by Off the Hook faded out, sending the building into an uncomfortable silence, and the dancing crowd stopped in confusion. Marie looked around.

The silence was quickly broken by Pearl, who spoke out to everyone with her mic. "Sorry, y'all, but we have just gotten word of a new event that's coming up! So buckle up and get ready to have your world shaken!"

"It's dance battle time!" Marina clarified. "Two pop idol duos shall face off, right here on this very floor, in just a moment!"

"Aw, fuck…" Marie mumbled.

"And that's not all. You, the audience, shall be our judges! Your cheers shall be the deciding factor to who wins tonight!" Pearl added.

"Aw, fuck…" Marie repeated as the audience cheered in excitement.

"So, clear the dance floor, and say hello to our first contestants!" Marina shouted. "Dawn and Sunny of Solar Flair!"

Spotlights centered on the girls, and they waved and smiled, Sunny even doing a self-promoting cheer as they walked onto the dance floor. They, however, didn't manage to get many cheers.

"...Who?" One guy in the audience said.

Their smiles fell a little, but they still overall looked confident.

"And on the other side of the ring…" Marina continued. "You already know their names… Callie and Marie of the one, the only, Squid Sisters!"

The audience exploded in cheers just at their names, and the spotlight centered on a very self-sensitive Marie and a drunk, giggling Callie. To Marie's dismay, the audience cheers calmed down as soon as everyone got a look at how awkward they looked.

"...Is that really what they're like in person? Pshh…" The same guy said.

"Well, hi, everybody! It's me… your favorite Callie!" Callie yelled, still obviously drunk.

Marie just gulped nervously and helped Callie onto the dance floor.

Dawn looked at them with a somewhat evil looking grin. "What's the matter? Feeling a bit under the weather?"

"Shut up…" She mumbled back, still supporting Callie. "At least they know who we are…"

She grunted in annoyance at her comment.

"Alright then… let the dance off… begin!" Marina said, turning a disc on her DJ table. Dance music immediately began playing.

"Let's show em what we're capable of, girl." Dawn told Sunny, and the two immediately broke into a seemingly planned out dance, in perfect sync with each other. It was as if they were practicing this dance for months.

Marie rolled her eyes as she watched, and Callie giggled. "Showoff…" Marie mumbled under her breath.

As Dawn and Sunny continued their rather elegant dance, they actually gained some "ooh"s and "aah"s from the audience.

"I like these new girls!" One guy said.

"Hell yeah!"

"WOO!"

"SOLAR FLAIR!"

Marie looked around nervously as the girls quickly earned a few fans in the audience. Dawn and Sunny soon topped their dance off with a beautifully executed spin and a smile. The audience burst into applause, and Sunny winked at the audience.

"Well?" Dawn said to Marie, pressuring her.

Marie let go of Callie and got into position. Callie weakly punched her in the shoulder. "Don't worry, Marie… we're gonna knock these assholes out…"

"Yeah… we will…" Marie looked up to the stage straight at Marina, giving her a hinting grin. Marina understood their silent deal, and suddenly powered on the Calamari Inkantation.

"Ooooh…" The audience went, and Dawn and Sunny both frowned. Callie and Marie both broke into their classic dance that everyone knew, and the audience cheered by default.

For a moment, just a moment, Marie thought that they were maybe gonna do just fine, and that Callie could pull this off for her despite how unfocused she was; they had, after all, years of practice under their belt. But, Marie's hopes soon faded as she continued, as the audience cheers seemed to be diminishing. Some people were even laughing.

She looked over at Callie, and sure enough, she had stopped dancing entirely, instead standing awkwardly with her drunk giggle. "Callie…"

"Oh, no, it's fine, Marie… I can do this…" Callie quickly attempted to continue to the dance, but suddenly tripped and fell over entirely.

"Callie!" Marie stopped her own dance to help her up, ignoring the fact that the audience was currently laughing their heads off. Marina awkwardly stopped the music with a frown.

"Pathetic…" Dawn grinned, before yelling back up to Marina. "Play some real music already and let's finish this!"

The audience cheered and Marina awkwardly obliged as Marie got Callie back on her feet. She sent Callie to go rest, before getting back on the dance floor, standing alone. "Ok… guess I'm going solo…" She again looked up at Marina, holding up one finger.

Marina was confused by this silent hint at first, but soon realized what she meant and nodded with a grin.

As the current music kept playing, Dawn and Sunny kept going with their own dance, quickly gaining the favor of the audience. Marie rolled her eyes, even if she had to silently admit that they were pretty good.

The girls quickly finished their dance, gaining more cheers from the audience. Dawn grinned again. "Where's your other half now?"

"Don't need her…" Marie replied. "Hit it, Marina!"

Marina quickly turned on a rather new remix of Tide Goes Out; one that hadn't even been heard by the public yet, but Marie was nice enough to give a copy to Marina some time ago. This song or the dance Marie was about to perform wasn't even supposed to go public yet, yet Marie didn't care.

She immediately began singing along to the song, while performing a new dance the public had never seen from her before. She had barely even practiced it yet, but she didn't care, and she was doing it surprisingly smooth.

She was quickly gaining the audience cheers back too, which immediately sent Dawn and Sunny into a state of disgust. "…Are you fucking kidding me…?" Sunny mouthed.

Marie continued her unpracticed dance without fail, and the audience was freaking out more and more. Angrily, Dawn and Sunny desperately broke into dance themselves, trying their hardest to keep up with Marie's cheers, but without enough practice, they just couldn't do it.

They both finished up their dances, Marie doing so with grace and her own grin, and the crowd still hadn't calmed down. "MARIE, MARIE, MARIE, MARIE…!" They all cheered.

Pearl grabbed her mic again as the music faded out. "Alright, Inkopolis! Who wins!?" She yelled out to the audience, before pointing the mic in their direction.

"MARIE!" The audience cheered in sync.

As the audience continued to freak out over Marie, Dawn gritted her teeth in anger, balling her fists. "No…"

"What's the matter?" Marie mocked. "Feeling a bit under the weather?"

Dawn looked as if she was about to have a mental breakdown, her breathing loud and clear despite the cheers. "…You little… BITCH!" She suddenly screamed, before charging directly at Marie.

* * *

**Back with Bridgett**

Bridgett just barely dodged a single Inkling who had charged at her by transforming into her Octopus form. The guy who tried to ram into her looked around in confusion, before Bridgett suddenly leaped up onto him, sticking to his face. He screamed. "AAHHHH! GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!" His voice was muffled by Bridgett's own body, who looked around at the many gang members who were now determined to kill her.

Multiple people turned their weapons on the guy he was sticking to. Bridgett gasped and leaped off just before the guy was splatted by his own gang, and landed on a dinner table. She turned back to her humanoid form. "Alright, guys, let's hurry this up, Marina's not gonna be happy if I'm out too late!"

One Inkling, to her dismay, suddenly pulled out Tenta Missiles, targeting onto her and only her.

"Uh oh…" Bridgett said out loud as the missiles were launched, all heading directly for her. Out of pure reflex, she suddenly leaped off the table with a flip, landing on another table, but quickly noticed that more missiles were still heading toward her. She quickly did more flips across the many tables scattered around the room in order to dodge them all, as well as dodge the gunfire from basically every gang member that was firing at her.

Eventually, she leaped over the Inkling who had launched the missiles, and with her Octo Shot, actually managed to land a couple shots of ink straight into his face as she flew past, splatting him. She landed on a table near the wall, nearly knocking it over, and she frantically spun her hands to keep her balance. The tenta missiles, meanwhile, all missed her and flew straight past, exploding harmlessly against the wall behind her.

"HOLY SHIT!" She accidentally screamed out, incredibly impressed by the flips and tricks she was just able to pull off. "THAT WAS AWESOME!"

The gang members didn't seem as impressed, however, as they were still charging at her, firing their weapons as they got close.

"God, you guys are no fun…" She muttered as she briefly turned back into her Octopus form to suddenly do a small super jump into one person. The guy he hit toppled into a table with a grunt, and she leaped back off into her humanoid form, noticing that she had landed nearby some left out upgraded weapons. "You guys mind if I steal these!?"

"Shit!" One member yelled as they watched Bridgett quickly snatch up her own Tenta Missiles and target everyone she could. She quickly launched them, and before anyone could react, many people were quickly splatted by the more advanced missiles.

The remaining members, now in much smaller numbers, angrily charged at her. Somehow managing to keep up her acrobatics from before, she weaved in and out of their gunfire and responding with her own, splatting them one by one. Eventually, however, one person managed to hit her, knocking her Octo Shot straight of her hand.

Now mostly defenseless, Bridgett briefly went wide-eyed in fear. "Uh oh…" She said again, as the remaining members continued to fire at her. She continued to weave in and out of them, this time using her fists to knock them out. She didn't seem nearly as skilled in this department, but was still able to splat them anyway with her Splat Bombs. She tossed a single one, splatting three people at once.

Now there was one person left, who dropped his gun and pulled out a knife. "Come and get me…" He hissed.

Bridgett squinted. "Well, don't get confident now…"

The last guy charged at her, slashing his knife at her, but she swiftly dodged and countered with some punches. She knocked the knife out of his hand, which caused him to grunt, before she tossed a Splat Bomb behind him.

He suddenly laughed. "Learn to aim, you-" He was unable to finish his insult as Bridgett suddenly kicked him in the stomach as hard as she could, knocking him back toward the bomb just as it exploded. His splatted ink covered the immediate area.

Bridgett took a breath and looked around at the mess they had just created, wincing. "Ooh…" She went back to pick up her dropped Octo Shot, and then searched the pockets of one of the guys she knocked out for his phone. She pulled it out and dialed 911, casually tapping her foot as she waited for them to pick up.

_"911, what is your emergency?"_

"O-Oh my god!" She suddenly yelled, putting on a little act. "T-There was a gang fight here! There's ink everywhere! Oh my god!"

_"Ma'am, I need you to relax. Can you describe what happened?"_

"I-I don't know, they just had an argument and they started shooting at each other. Each and every one of them got knocked out! O-Oh no! This is so bad! It's such a mess! There's a lot of dangerous looking weapons here, too! Oh, I sure wouldn't wanna be in the same city as those if they're ever used!"

_"Ma'am, please relax. What's the address?"_

She gave him the address of the warehouse. "Please hurry! Oh my god, I'm so scared!"

_"The police are on the way, ma'am. Just relax and stay calm. You're safe."_

"T-Thank you! You're such a gentlemen!" She hung up, dropped the phone, and rolled her eyes. Without anything else to do, she slipped out her own phone, plugging some earbuds in and turning on her music. As the opening notes to her song played out, she super jumped back out the ceiling through the hole she had created to get in, heading back home.

* * *

**Back with the Popstars**

_"I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation"_

The loud rock music that Pearl had turned on just for the situation blasted throughout the room, and the audience watched intently as Dawn wrestled with Marie.

"Yeah!" Callie yelled, still drunk. "Get em, Marie!"

Sunny, who was meanwhile still free, ran to grab a chair, with the intention of whacking Marie across the head with it.

_"You're living in the past it's a new generation"_

"Holy shit…" Pearl said, watching the whole thing, now seeing Sunny attempt to actually hurt Marie. She suddenly pulled out her Dualies.

Marina noticed. "Woah, Pearlie, where'd you get those!? Don't tell me you're gonna get involved!"

"Don't worry, babe. I'm just fighting for our friends." She leaped off the stage. "COME GET SOME!"

"Don't splat them! You could get arrested!" Marina yelled after her.

_"A girl can do what she wants to do and that's_

_What I'm gonna do"_

Pearl heeded Marina's warning and decided to not fire at them, but still charged directly at Sunny with a war cry. Sunny watched as she approached, and suddenly whacked her with the chair instead. Pearl was quickly knocked down with a grunt.

"Pearlie!" Marina yelled, before suddenly also leaping off the stage. "That's my girlfriend you're hitting, asshole!"

"You want some too!?" Sunny yelled back.

Marina also charged forward.

_"An' I don't give a damn ' bout my bad reputation"_

The audience was still deeply entertained as Marie continued to wrestle with Dawn, pulling at her hair and kicking her away while Off the Hook battled with Sunny in the background.

Sunny was apparently skilled in combat compared to Pearl and Marina, apparently having some knowledge in martial arts, and was able to fend the two off, especially since Marina admittedly wasn't that great at fighting herself. Pearl resorted to using her dualies as blunt weapons, which allowed her to fight back better.

"WOO!" Callie yelled in the background. "Bad! Ass! Go get em, Marie! You can do it! Squid Sisters Forever!"

"Callie, SHUT UP!" Marie yelled back as this time, Dawn pulled at her hair. "Ow!"

_"Oh no, not me_

_Oh no, not me"_

"Hands off the hair!" Marie screamed angrily, kicking her in the stomach and shoving her away. Dawn grunted and fell back on her butt, sliding across the floor.

Sunny, meanwhile, was able to kick Marina down entirely, knocking her unconscious.

"Marina!" Pearl growled at Sunny, immediately angered further by watching Marina collapse. "You're gonna regret that!"

"Go to hell, you midget!" Sunny yelled.

Pearl stood back up with her dualies and quickly rushed at her with another war cry. She knocked her squarely in the face with one dualie, which caused her to back off with a pained yell. Then, she suddenly leaped up and wrapped her legs around her face, before using her weight to throw her down Black Widow-style. With Sunny now down, Pearl used her dualie to again hit her, this time knocking her out.

Marie had gotten distracted from her own fight by this. "…Holy shit, that was actually impressive." Right after she said this, Dawn charged at her, tackling her. "God dammit!"

"I hate you!" Dawn yelled like a child. "And now I'm gonna hurt you for it!"

"Jesus, woman, you're insane!" Marie yelled back, pushing her off.

The next thing Dawn new, she was being teamed up on by both Marie and Pearl, before she was suddenly knocked out by a bottle someone had chucked at her head.

After she collapsed unconscious, Marie and Pearl both looked at Callie, who had apparently thrown the bottle. "WOO!" She called out.

The crowd cheered ecstatically.

* * *

**Several Minutes Later**

"Yeah, and she knocked Marina right out, so… you might wanna give her extra jail time. Or something. I don't know how that whole system works…" Marie explained to the police, who had arrived at the scene a bit later after apparently having been called by someone in the audience.

"Understood." The officer said.

Marina, who was awake again and holding an ice pack to her head, watched alongside Pearl as the police carried Dawn and Sunny out to a police car. Sunny stuck her tongue out at them, and Marina stuck hers out right back.

"Wow… busy day, huh?" One police officer said nearby.

"Yeah… we get word yet on what happened in that warehouse downtown?" Another said.

"There were two gangs. Some kind of weapons deal gone south. We got a call from a young woman who said it was a gang fight, but the way the crime scene was laid out… it was as if they were teaming up against one person who took them all out and fled the scene."

This piqued the interest of the three girls, who were standing and eavesdropping. "…Think it was Agent 3?" Marina asked.

"Nah, you know Jessica is busy at the moment." Marie added. "…The bigger question is if there's some other vigilante out there now."

"...I wonder who that could be." Marina thought out loud to herself, but shrugged it off. "Whatever. Let's… start going home."

"Agreed." Marie helped Callie up, and they walked out to their van. "So… how was our ladies' night out for you?"

"It was awesome!" Pearl said enthusiastically.

"I have a headache now, but it was fun." Marina added.

"Best night of my life…" Callie said as Marie sat her down.

Marie smiled. She had started to feel like the night had become a disaster, but if they had fun, that was all that mattered. "…Glad you liked it."

* * *

**Marina's House**

Pearl and Marina opened the door to their house moments later, to see that Bridgett was back in the living room watching Invader Squid. She still had random snacks and spilled chips littered around the coffee table and the floor, and she had turned her music back up.

Marina gasped and went to turn down the music. "What the hell!? What the hell is with his mess!? Can we seriously not even leave the house for a few hours without you trashing up the living room!?"

Bridgett sighed like a teenage girl. "…Sorry…"

"Clean this up! Now!" Marina snapped, grumbling as she started heading into the other room.

Pearl didn't seem too bothered however, and she leaned over the couch with a grin. "So, you had your own girl's night, huh?"

"Yeah…" Bridgett responded.

"Do anything interesting?"

"Hm… nothing much."

* * *

**Octo Canyon**

Dylan was still stuck at his post by Cuttlefish Cabin despite the hour, keeping the corner of his eye on Octavio, while tapping his knees in boredom. He could just leave his post, he realized, but he was too loyal to Marie to do that without getting her permission first.

"...It sucks sitting with nothing to do all day, huh?" Octavio said bitterly.

"...Yeah…" Dylan replied, sighing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I started this one-shot like a month ago and I shoved it to the side because of A3:E, but I finally got to update this story again, thank god. I've been having a motivation surge with writing the past few days so I've been getting a lot done, thankfully. Anyway, I just wanna say real quick that I'm probably going to go back to ignoring this story for a little while. I do have a Halloween special chapter (which may be 2 parts again depending on how long it is) planned for October, more specifically on October 31st, but that's still nearly two months away, and outside of that, I honestly intend on just working on A3:E for now. Who knows though, my mind might change and I might crank out another surprise chapter for this, but I'm just saying, don't expect too much out of this for a while. Anyway... that's all for now, see you around. *waves*


	9. Callie's Mansion - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Marie goes missing in a haunted mansion, Callie must fight to face her fears with the help of Sheldon in her quest to save her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, surprise. I know I said that I'd upload the halloween special for this story on October 31st specifically, but since this is indeed 2 parts and I did manage to finish the second part a bit earlier than I expected, I decided to release the first part a day early. But just the first part, I'm still making you wait a day for part 2 if you don't mind.
> 
> Anyway... a couple things to say before we start. First, do I even have to say that this whole thing is gonna be a parody of Luigi's Mansion? It'll be very similar to how Clownfish Day was a direct parody of Groundhog Day, and as such, this special will actually have some mild crossover elements with the Mario series. Surprise again. (Of course, credit to Nintendo for those elements) Not only that, but it'll also have mild crossover with other horror properties, and I'll leave you to find the references for now.
> 
> Second, I'm gonna warn you right now, this is probably the strangest thing I have ever written. So... have fun.

**The Day After Octo Canyon**

Marie quickly yet gently unlocked and opened the door to Callie's apartment, turning the light on and slowly leading Callie in by hand. "Alright… home sweet home! Right?"

"I… yeah…" Callie said, but she didn't look nearly as thrilled as Marie had hoped. Barely even looking around or taking her shoes off like she normally would, she instead went straight to her own couch and plopped down.

Marie frowned and sat next to her, petting her hair. "Can I get you something to eat?"

"No…"

"A drink?"

"Maybe later…"

"Want me to pop on some tunes?"

"I'm good…"

She sighed, thinking of any other way to help out her cousin. "…Can I do anything for you? Please?"

Callie thought for a moment, before just shaking her head no.

"I just want to help… I know you've been through a lot… Living in the domes can't have been fun…"

"It wasn't…"

"And I'm sorry for sticking you in the hospital overnight… I just wanted to make sure you were fine after-"

"I am fine… please stop, Marie…"

Marie didn't stop anyway. "…And I'm sorry for sniping you… I really needed to get the glasses off…"

"Marie…"

"I'll tell Four to apologize too. I know he didn't actually touch you, but-"

"Marie, please…"

"Just, if there's anything you want me to do, let me know, and I will do it as fast as I-"

"God dammit, I said I'm fine!" Callie suddenly snapped, turning to Marie angrily, causing her to jump and flinch a little. "I got fucked in the head! So what!? What's the big deal!?"

Marie frowned again. "Callie… I just want to help…"

"Then just leave me alone!" Not wanting to talk to her, Callie suddenly shot up from the couch and back out the front door, quickly disappearing from Marie's vision.

Marie would've obliged and left her alone, but she did happen to know that it was supposed to rain today. It definitely wasn't safe for the Inkling body to be out there. "Callie! Dammit!" She quickly followed.

Callie had already vanished by the time she got out, so she ended up having to look around a bit. "Callie?" She'd occasionally call. "Callie!" Soon, light rain began to fall, thankfully in small amounts. She sighed and looked around, hoping that none would land on her. "Callie!" She called again.

It wasn't too much longer before she heard sobbing noises come from a nearby alleyway, and she sighed before walking over. "…Callie?"

Callie, sure enough, was sobbing her eyes out, curled up and leaned against one of the buildings that formed the alleyway. She was sitting underneath a small roof that was connected to the building that would protect her from the rain once it got heavier.

She sighed and sat down next to her. "…I'm sorry…"

Callie sniffed and wiped a couple tears. "…For what…?"

"Just… for not being there when I should have… I know that… things have been tough between us ever since the last Splatfest, and… just… I'm sorry…"

"...No, I am…" She uncurled a little. "I… worked for the Octarians… I'm a piece of shit…"

"Callie, you were kidnapped and then brainwashed… it wasn't your fault…"

"Maybe it was, kind of… I mean… I was… still in there… I wasn't completely gone… I feel like I should've fought back… but… I wasn't strong enough…"

Marie frowned and put an arm around her. "You're plenty strong… I mean… As soon as we got the glasses off, you came straight on the stage with me and we kicked that loser's ass."

"Four kicked his ass, we were just singing the music… and… of course it had to be you who got the glasses off me…"

She sighed. "…I was just trying to help, Callie…"

"You don't get it, Marie…" She looked at her. "Look at me… I'm worthless… I've always been worthless… You've always been the better agent than me."

"Oh, come on, that's not true…"

"Yes it is. You're always the one who carries us, even when we're a team. You're the better half to the Squid Sisters and you're the better Agent in general. I wouldn't have gotten anywhere with the Splatoon if Gramps and I didn't recruit you…"

Marie just looked down. She didn't have a response to that. Although she didn't exactly want to admit it, it was, to an extent, true, and they both knew it.

"I'm just weak…" Callie sighed. "And I can't fight for myself… I'm nothing without you…"

Marie still didn't have a response, and at around that moment, the rain that surrounded them suddenly got heavier, trapping them underneath the small roof. Realizing they were gonna be stuck for a while, Marie just wrapped both arms around Callie and pulled her into a hug.

Callie accepted the hug, crying on her shoulder.

"You're so much more than you think…" Marie said. "And I don't like seeing you like this…"

Callie said nothing in response, just holding her close.

* * *

**A Couple Years Later**

The night sky lit up and a loud crack of thunder erupted throughout the woods Callie was currently walking through, instantly making her jump. It was cold out, so she was shivering a little despite her jacket, and she was holding a flashlight to see where she was going. It was an incredibly isolating and ominous environment, with all the trees that surrounded her appearing leafless and practically dead. Was this a good idea? She thought it was at first, but the isolation and the feeling that something would maybe jump out at her was definitely starting to get to her, and she was starting to have second thoughts.

She decided to push through it and ignore how anxious she felt; she would see Marie soon enough. As a matter of fact, she was arriving at her destination. She didn't actually have her phone on her at the moment, which she regretted, but she did have a rather colorful and inviting map in her hand that assured her she was heading in the right direction. She looked at the map, and then back up, and sure enough, her destination wasn't far in front of her.

It was a large but old-looking mansion, with a purple tint to its walls and a bunch of rocks laid about in front almost like gravestones. To her dismay, it definitely looked a lot creepier than it did on the map she was holding, and at this point she was starting to just consider turning back. Yet… Marie should surely be inside already… right? She hoped to herself that the ominous feel to everything was just because of how it was dark out, and slowly made her way up to the mansion, carefully stepping up the stairs to the front doors.

She soon found that the doors were locked; which wasn't a good sign to her at all. Maybe Marie didn't get there yet. Or… maybe she did and just decided to lock up the doors again? Marie could be like that, she realized. Luckily, she had already been given a key to the mansion herself, so she took it out of her pocket and unlocked the door, shivering because of the cold. As she heard the door unlock, she real quick looked down to put her map away, but as soon as she looked back up, she realized the key had vanished from the keyhole. "…What…?" She said out loud.

She checked around her pockets. The key had actually disappeared. Paranoia getting to her, she decided to just open the doors, and it was luckily still unlocked. Weird. She creaked the doors open and carefully stepped into the main foyer, and to her dismay, all of the lights were off. "…Marie?" She said, her voice a bit shaky. Maybe she was just paranoid, but she didn't like the situation at all. She was about to turn back and leave, but to her surprise, the front door actually closed behind her, which caused her to jump and accidentally scream a little.

"Marie!?" She said again, louder this time. She went back to open the door, only to find that it had locked itself automatically. "I swear to god, if you're using the opportunity to prank me again, I'm going to… break down crying!" She yelled out.

She paused for a few seconds, as if she was waiting for a response. Of course, nothing happened. Not seeing anything else to do, she decided to look around, directing her flashlight throughout the foyer. It was a very dark and dusty looking mansion, and dust clouds formed at her feet whenever she took a step. Of course the free mansion they won in a contest they never entered would be like this.

As she continued exploring the foyer, she went up the stairs. "Marie? I know you're here… please just come out so we can laugh about this… or else this is gonna prove to be a very cruel prank that I will never forgive you for."

No response. At least not from Marie. As she pressed on, exploring the mansion, she eventually heard a crash, coming from a few rooms down. "…Marie!?" Now worried, she frantically headed out of the foyer, heading down the hallways of the mansion to locate the sound. "Marie!? Are you ok!?"

None of the lights in the whole mansion were on, and she hadn't even seen any light switches as a matter of fact, but at least she had her flashlight to light up the immediate area in front of her. As she eventually located the sound of the crash, she opened the door to the room it came from, only to find it was also locked. "Marie!?"

Instead of a vocal response, all she got was more crashing sounds, as if there was a fight going on. "Marie!?" Desperately, she began kicking down the door, mustering all her strength. "Come on, you piece of shit door…"

It took quite a few kicks to break the door out of its hinges, but she soon finished the job, stepping inside the room. "I swear to god Marie, if this is a prank, it's not-" Her own sentence was interrupted as she entered to see what was in the room. In shock, her eyes widened, and she backed up, accidentally backing into the wall. "What… the actual… FUCK!?"

In front of her was what appeared to be a ghost. A full on, floating, transparent ghoul, with sharp fingers, large equally sharp teeth, and no legs, a tail instead replacing them. The ghost turned to her, a wide smile crossing its disgusting mouth.  _"…Callie!"_  It suddenly said. It's voice was certainly that of an Inkling, but was distorted as if it was demented.

She would've responded with "How do you know my name?", but no sound came out of her mouth this time. She couldn't even tell if this thing was real.

_"We've been waiting for you…"_ It began floating toward her.  _"You and your cousin, that is…"_

Callie was absolutely freaking out, even if silently, and all her hearts were going bonkers. The ghost began creeping it's rather bony looking hand toward her, and she leaned her head against the wall, closing her eyes in fear while gritting her teeth.

But there was someone else in the room. "Oh no you don't! You and I are finishing this one alone, pal!" The third voice said, followed by what sounded like a vacuum turning on.

The ghost was quickly captured in a small yet strong gust of wind, being pulled in the direction of the vacuum. Callie opened her eyes, seeing what was going on. She blinked. "…Sheldon!?"

"Yep, that would be me!" Sheldon yelled back. He was wearing a red vacuum backpack on his back, which he was currently using in an attempt to suck in the ghost.

The ghost fought back as best as it could, struggling in the air, but ultimately, it was unable to do anything as it was sucked into the vacuum nozzle, disappearing with a scream.

Sheldon relaxed and stopped the vacuum, straightening his goggles. "That… should be enough out of that guy…"

"What are you doing here!? What was that thing!?" Callie screamed at her, still in shock.

"What are YOU doing here!?" Sheldon yelled back. "And what do you think that thing was? It was, what I refer to as a class 5 full-roaming vapor…" He sighed. "…A real nasty one, too…"

"No…" Callie suddenly began pacing frantically back and forth. "No… what the fuck… ghosts aren't real… ghosts aren't real, this is insane… I must be dreaming or something…"

"Well, you know what, that's exactly what I thought like a few days ago, but you know what, here we are…"

Callie stopped and then pinched herself. "Ow…" She looked around nervously. "I, uh… you still haven't told me what you're doing here…"

"You first."

She sighed, still controlling her breathing. "I-I, uh… Marie and I… we won a free mansion… I mean, we both thought it was bullshit, especially since it was from a contest we never even entered, but uh… it seemed legit, so I convinced Marie to check it out anyway, and we agreed to meet up here…"

Sheldon looked at her in disbelief. "…Hold on… you won a free mansion in a shady contest you never entered and you thought for even a second that it was legit?"

"Hey, I mean, we are kinda celebrities! Shit like that can happen sometimes! I didn't come here expecting to see Casper and you as a Ghostbuster!"

"You walked all the way out through a dark forest just because you- you know what, never mind… this isn't the time to be discussing that… I… we might have a problem…"

"What? What problem?"

"You said you were gonna meet with Marie here?"

"Yeah… shit… I really need to call her… but I don't have my phone… do you have a phone? Can I call her?"

"...Callie… She already arrived here."

"...What?"

"I came in here looking for her. I was already researching the mansion because it seemingly popped up out of nowhere, and she came over earlier today, but… oh no… this is bad…"

She stared at him, wide-eyed. "…She's… stuck in here… with those things… and you just let her walk in!?"

"I… shit…" Hearing creaking noises throughout the mansion, he began walking toward the door. "I've gotta get you out of here… I have a small hideout nearby… we can talk there."

"Sheldon, my cousin is MISSING! IN A HAUNTED MANSION! I'm not fucking leaving, we have to find her!"

At that moment, more ghosts suddenly materialized in the room. Callie screamed and jumped.

"Dammit! Callie, I need to get you out of here, can we just please talk at my hideout!?" Sheldon began pulling Callie to the door. "Come on, posthaste!"

Callie just groaned and followed, wanting to get away from the ghosts.

* * *

Sheldon took Callie out of the mansion and down into the forest a little, taking her to what appeared a small shack. It wasn't actually a shack, however, instead a disguised ladder down to a small underground bunker.

Callie looked around. Although it didn't seem to be built by Sheldon, it was filled with his stuff, including computer screens and tools. "Where the hell did you get the screens?"

Sheldon quickly went to his laptop. "Oh, I built them."

"...I thought you were just a weapons builder."

"Well, I was, but, you know that I've teamed up with Marina for a lot of projects at this point, so, I've taken a lot of cues from her. Anyway… speaking of…"

Sheldon reached for a radio that was connected to the Splatoon's com system while Callie sat down randomly, still trying to calm herself down. Her mind was racing, trying to figure out how to save Marie.

"Calling all New Squidbeak Splatoon members!" Sheldon suddenly said into the radio. "This is Agent 5! I'm calling for back-up! Does anyone copy?" He tinkered around with the frequencies a bit. "…Marina, this is Agent 5, calling for back-up… Do you copy...?" He was getting no response. "…Dammit. Dylan? This is Agent 5… Do you copy…? Bridgett? …Pearl?"

Callie just lazily watched him. "I don't think anyone is online…"

"Dammit!" Sheldon said, suddenly slamming the radio. "They usually answer! What the hell has been wrong lately?"

"Um, maybe my cousin went missing in a haunted mansion and now we need to save her?"

"No, it's not just that…" He sighed, lazily spinning around in his chair, thinking. "I mean, I can't contact anyone from the Splatoon, a lot of my tech has been acting funny, everything feels off…" He slumped down. "…Something is very wrong here… and I can't put my finger on it…"

"Look!" Callie suddenly stood up. "I don't give a shit what kind of existential crisis you think you're having right now, but Marie... is missing… in a fucking haunted mansion…" She suddenly began crying. "She's very important to me… so I'm not gonna sit here and watch you twiddle your thumbs, we are going to figure this out! Now!"

He looked at her. "…Well, I'm trying, I really am, but quite honestly, I don't think I'm trained enough to take on all these ghosts…" He sighed. "We need back up. We need someone to enter the mansion for us."

She sighed as well. "I mean… you have me…"

He suddenly chuckled a little before returning to his desk. "Heh… that's funny…"

She squinted at him. "…I'm not being funny, I'm saying that I can go in there for you."

"Callie… can I just be honest for a second?" He sighed, rubbing his goggles as if they were his forehead. "…I've heard from Marie that you're… really not the best on the field…"

"Oh, bullshit! I'm not that bad on the field! I can handle myself!"

"...Marie has told me stories…"

"Really? You're basing your opinion of me off of stories? What kind of stories?"

"Well…" He shuffled awkwardly in his chair. "…I heard about your little ladies' night out from a couple weeks back…"

"That…" She sighed. "Is… a valid reason to think negatively about me, yes, but, come on, I'm still not-"

"She also told me be about what happened when you were escorting the dangerous weapon out of town."

"I was tranqued and it turned out to be a frisbee. So what?"

"And about the time you went to a wedding and got attacked."

"I… oh… right… that did happen…"

"And what happened at the circus with that clown you didn't like or something…"

"I mean… do we have to count that…?"

"And the Arowana Mall Incident. And the-"

"Ok… stop… I get your point…"

He just corrected his goggles awkwardly.

Callie sat back down and sighed, staring at the ground.

"I… didn't wanna offend you… but I mean… going into that mansion has gotta be dangerous… You could honestly die. I just wanna get someone… who's more… capable… you know?"

"Whatever…" She kept her gaze down.

"...Please don't make me feel guilty, just… I'll keep on working on contacting the Splatoon, and we'll get someone to save Marie. Alright?"

"Sheldon, think about it, we might not have that kind of time…"

"I… yeah… that's true…"

She slumped down in the chair herself.

He sighed, thinking about it. Only after a few moments did he speak again. "…Do you  _want_  to go in?"

She looked at him. "I-I mean… no… but I'm willing to…" She looked back down. "I just wanna make sure Marie is safe…"

He sighed again, put a lot of thought into it for a moment, and then eventually got up, grabbing the red vacuum he wore in the mansion and taking it to her. "Alright, kid…" She handed her the backpack, before tapping both her shoulders. "…You're a Ghostbuster now."

Callie awkwardly took the vacuum. "Um, thanks…" She looked it over. "…What is this, exactly?"

* * *

**A Few Minutes Later**

"I call it the Poltergust 3000." Sheldon began. "It's basically just a house vacuum that I altered for use against ghosts, along with a couple other features. That right there, is probably the strongest vacuum in the world, and the only working ghost container that I know of."

Callie was currently wearing the Poltergust on her back, the handle with the nozzle in her hand. She reached back and shuffled it a little. "…I can't believe we just discovered the existence of ghosts and we're about the save the day with a vacuum…"

"Turn on the smaller switch on the handle, and you should see that it has a built in flashlight through the nozzle."

She turned it on, shining the light in her own face by accident. "Nifty."

"Now, listen up, this is important. Ghosts aren't gonna go down without a fight, so if you want any hope to catching them, you've gotta stun them first. To do so, aim the light at the target, hold down the light switch, and it'll charge and then release a strobulb light once you let go. The ghost will get stunned if it sees it, and it will temporarily decrease its ability to fight back. Once it's in that state, you can wrangle it with the vacuum nozzle, and from there, it's a tug of war until the ghost gives up and is fully sucked into the nozzle. Make sense?"

She gave a thumbs up. "Crystal clear, man."

"Cool. Try out the strobulb."

Callie did so and held down the light switch, which caused the light to begin seemingly charging up energy, before she let go and suddenly let off a massive blast of light… right in her own face. Stunned, she quickly passed out and collapsed.

Sheldon stared at her. "…Oh yeah, and be careful where you aim the light, the strobulb is not a toy."

* * *

After Callie awoke again, they finished up their preparations without hesitating. "One last thing…" Sheldon said, throwing Callie an earpiece. "We're definitely keeping contact on coms like a standard Splatoon mission, so… make sure you're keeping me up to date and what's going on in the mansion."

"Got it… um…" She looked at the earpiece. "…There's earwax on this."

"Yeah, it's… used…" Sheldon admitted. "While you're inside, I'll stay here in the relative warmth and comfort of this bunker so that I can keep trying to contact the Splatoon and figure out what the hell has even been going on."

"Got it…" Callie sighed, cleaning off what she could before reluctantly putting on her earpiece.

"You've got this, Agent 1. As soon as we find Marie, you guys can get the hell out of here and leave the investigating part to me."

"Whatever…" She slipped back on the Poltergust and then headed for the ladder, climbing up. "See ya on the other side, asshole."

Sheldon sighed, as Callie disappeared up the ladder. "…I don't get paid enough for this shit…" He muttered to himself. "Not that I get paid… but whatever…"

Callie made it all the way up and exited the shack into the woods, grabbing the Poltergust's handle and turning on the flashlight. She carefully looked around, on high alert, before cautiously heading back up to the mansion.

Humming the Calamari Inkantation to herself just to help herself feel calm, she walked up the front steps and carefully creaked open the door; luckily, they were no longer locked. Whether that was a good thing or not, she didn't know.

As soon as she stepped inside however, the door suddenly slammed back shut, which caused her to accidentally jump and scream yet again.

_"We've been waiting for you…"_  An ominous voice said from seemingly nowhere, echoing throughout the foyer. Callie gulped. The voice sounded strangely like… her own.

"…Marie?" She called out. As she looked around the foyer, however, she suddenly noticed a major difference this time, and she gasped a little. Littered all around the room on the walls, floor, and even ceiling, were many copies of one poster of the Squid Sisters. It was a poster she definitely recognized, but to her horror, Marie's face was crossed off with an X, and her own face looked strangely distorted. Shaking, she stared at them for a bit before deciding to press on, heading to the main hall, ready for anything. …Almost anything, at least.

This time, she was able to take a look around, pointing her flashlight in all sorts of directions and checking out the various details the mansion had to offer. This time, she noticed that the mansion was pretty cold, especially for indoors, so being inside wasn't exactly better than being out on that regard. The mansion didn't even look that nice; everything was old, everything was creaky, and there was dust everywhere. The sooner she found Marie and got out, the better.

"Marie?" She called out again, as if it helped. "Marie, if you can hear me, I'm coming… I promise you that I'm coming… so just… if you do hear me, a call or a whistle or some sign that you're still alive would be very helpful, thank you…" She stopped, desperately expecting a response, but of course got nothing. She sighed, pressing on.

There didn't seem to be much in the halls, so she began checking rooms. She entered what seemed to be a parlor first, with a couple tables and a china cabinet alongside other furniture with lit candles on them, as well as rather creepy looking paintings of Inklings on the walls. She looked up at the paintings. She guessed by the clothes they were portrayed with that they were relevant decades ago. "Hm…" She muttered, still creeped out. Despite being aware she was in a haunted mansion and the fact that she came in expecting the worst, the small creepy details were still getting to her.

A little bit creeped out by the paintings, she decided to turn back and leave, when suddenly, she crashed into one of the tables in a hurry, knocking the candles down. "Fuck!" She yelled, watching as the candles went out before falling to the ground.

At first, she wouldn't have cared too much about the candles, but, as soon as they hit the ground, the paintings in the room began shaking all at once. She looked around, thinking that maybe it was an earthquake, only to see that the paintings alone were shaking. "Um…" She hummed nervously.

_"Who put out my candles!?"_ One painting suddenly yelled, despite the face still being inanimate, causing her to jump.  _"Was it you, Mrs. Pink Jacket?"_

"...Well, hey, there's no need to be rude about it… it was an accident, alright?" Callie replied innocently, shivering nervously.

_"Well, dark rooms are dangerous around here… yesss…"_ Another painting said, prompting Callie to turn and look at it.

_"They love the dark… and now they will get you…"_ Yet another painting started.

_"Just like the white-haired girl before you…"_ A fourth one said.

Callie felt like her hearts dropped into her stomach when she heard it mention the white-haired girl. "…Marie?"

_"Are you afraid of the dark, little girl? Are you? Huh?"_ The first one said.  _"Here they are now…"_ It finished with a menacing cackle.

The paintings all fell silent, just before multiple ghosts like the one she encountered before materialized in the room, all grinning at her.

She shrieked in fear, quickly realizing she was having a fear-induced brain fart and was having trouble thinking of what to do. As the ghosts floated toward her, she tried her hardest to mentally walk herself through the steps of catching a ghost.

_'Ok, first… strobulb! Stun them!'_ She thought to herself, before shakily turning to some of the ghosts, holding down the light switch button. The flashlight immediately began charging energy.

She didn't have time to charge it all the way, however, as the ghosts were moving in for the kill. She gasped and leaped out of the way as one ghost flew forward and attempted to slam into her, which would've resulted in who knows what. She just knew she wasn't in the mood to get possessed today. She turned back to them, and this time, managed to unleash a powerful strobulb light directly in some of their faces, instantly stunning them in place.

' _Suck!'_  Without thinking, she hit the suction button on her nozzle, and immediately, the ghosts were hit with a gust of wind coming from the vacuum, and were slowly pulled in the direction of her nozzle. They weren't going down without a fight, however, as they were quickly "swimming" away through the air, unable to escape the suction radius.

Callie struggled to keep control of the ghosts, noticing that as the ghosts attempted to escape, they were actually pulling her with a bit as if they were tied together with a rope.

"Come on, you lazy… piece of…" Callie grumbled back to the Poltergust as this happened, and eventually, the ghosts got too tired to keep fighting and gave up, getting sucked right into the nozzle one after another. Callie relaxed, sighing in relief at her first capture. "Yes! Suck it, losers! I'm a Ghostbuster!"

She failed to remember that there was one last ghost in the room still, however, and as soon as she turned around, the remaining ghost suddenly flew straight into her, knocking her back with a scream. She flew back and crashed into the wall, yelping in pain as she collided with the wall.

At first, she thought the ghost had just hit her, and almost got back up. As she looked around, however, she noticed that the ghost wasn't exactly around, and it took her about 2 more seconds to realize the ghost had probably flown inside her.

"O-Oh my god!" She screamed out, rapidly feeling around her own body. "Shit! Please don't possess me!"

_"Why not?"_ The deep corrupted voice of the ghost replied. It was definitely coming from inside of her, as if the ghost was currently hanging out directly inside her ear.  _"You don't really like ghosts, do you?"_

"Um…" She gulped. "N-No, not really… I don't really think anyone likes ghosts…"

_"That's hurtful."_

"Why is that hurtful? Aren't you dead already? Shouldn't nothing bother you? J-Just, please, um… kind sir… please just leave my body alone, because I on the other hand am very much alive and have shit to do…" She awkwardly felt around her own body again. "…At least I think I'm alive. I still haven't quite figured out if I'm dreaming or not…"

She then felt as if a cold presence suddenly left her body, and the next thing she knew, the ghost that entered her was directly in her face, with its rather scary looking smile. She jumped and screamed yet again, before realizing that as the ghost left her, it left her covered in a gross slime substance. She gagged slightly and felt some of the slime with her fingers.

_"Just because I am dead doesn't mean I don't still have feelings. We are still no different from your Inkling kind, in a way…"_ The ghost started.

Callie was shaking in fear. "N-No, I think you're quite different…"

_"And, for just the moment that I was inside you, I was able to feel what you felt. You are afraid."_

"...R-Rude…"

_"I'm just being honest. I have already explored your mind. I now know everything there is to know about you. You're quite… interesting…"_

"Um… t-thanks?"

_"You're welcome. I didn't, however, say that's a good thing… You are obviously a loser, Callie…"_

"...God, you are a very rude little ghost, aren't you?"

_"The poor Squid Sister who is always overshadowed by her cousin… who is better than her… at literally everything… I'm not gonna lie, I feel kind of… sorry for you."_ He grinned more than he was already grinning by default.

Callie looked down a little, before deciding to ignore him and look back up. "…Where is she? I just want to find her…"

_"Maybe that's not in my place to say… But, in this mansion, in your journey to find her, I can certainly tell you that nothing is quite what it seems… And you already sense this. You are beginning to question what is real, and what isn't… you think you're dreaming... but yet you know all the same… you are too lucid for this to be a dream. Everything is too real to be fake. Right?"_

Callie, feeling a little tripped out, didn't respond.

_"Heh… you're certainly in for a ride then… In this place… reality is nothing… but your deepest fears… mean everything…"_

Callie stared at it. "…I-I don't understand…"

_"You'll see in time… I have seen what you fear, Callie… your trial will not be easy to be sure…"_ It giggled a little.

She was getting frustrated at this point. "Can't you just tell me what the hell I'm up against then?"

It shook its head, and then began floating away.  _"Learn to face your fears… I will be watching you…"_

"W-Wait! Can you please just clarify what-" Callie started, but the next thing she knew, the ghost had disappeared before her, and she quickly noticed that she had magically teleported back in the foyer. She looked around. While the posters of her and Marie had disappeared, they were replaced by statues of some sort, seemingly out of nowhere. "Um…" She got closer, realizing that the statues were of… herself.

_"Tick tock, tick tock…"_ The feminine voice she heard before, the one that sounded strangely like her own, once again spoke throughout the mansion.  _"You'd better hurry if you wanna find her…"_

Callie gulped and decided to ignore the voice, shakily grabbing the nozzle from her Poltergust again and turning on the flashlight. She headed back out of the foyer and back down the hall, preparing to explore the mansion some more, not noticing that the Callie statues were turning their heads to look at her as she walked out.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

"Calling all New Squidbeak Splatoon members…" Sheldon sighed into the radio. "This is Agent 5… Again calling for backup… does anybody at all copy?" He had been desperately trying to contact the Splatoon ever since Callie left for the mansion, and of course was coming out with no luck. "…Something, please look up for us…" He muttered to himself, giving up and turning from the radio.

It was around this moment that he looked at one of the computer screens, which was currently showing results of an environmental scan he was running, and he noticed something rather… odd. He leaned in to get a closer look. On the screen, which was showing a 3D model of the mansion, and the surrounding woods area, it showed that the area they were in cut off rather… abruptly. It was almost as if the woods area they were in was contained in some kind of dome, completely cut off from the outside world. Even stranger, is that outside that dome, there was absolutely nothing.

"Um…" He backed up a bit from the screen, many theories circulating through his head. At least this could explain why he couldn't contact anyone from the Splatoon, even if he didn't like the reason at all. Nervously, he went to call Callie.

* * *

Callie was still exploring the mansion when suddenly, a rather catchy Ammo Knights ringtone went off in her ear, of course causing her to jump. She sighed and pressed a button on her earpiece. "…Hello?"

_"Callie?"_ Sheldon said on the other line.  _"Um… interesting thing…"_

"Uh huh? Same here… it's been a long night already…"

_"I…"_ He hesitated.  _"Callie… I have a feeling we're not in Inkopolis anymore…"_

"Ok…?" She was confused. "I know we aren't, these woods are outside the city limits, you know…"

_"No, I mean like… we're not in our own reality anymore…"_

She stopped walking. "…Are you trying to imply we're in Oz?"

_"No, of course not, this is more like… I mean… Ok, maybe…"_

"Oh no…"

_"Personal theory? I… think we've maybe hopped dimensions somehow... Which would explain the ghosts."_

"...How the hell would we have done that? Why us and Marie?"

_"I don't know, but… Has Marina ever explained the Spacetime Dimension to you?"_

"No?"

_"Well, she explained it to me one time when she was drunk, and… ok, you know what, that's not worth going over again. My point is… I think we've either dimension hopped or we've gotten wrapped up in something… much… much weirder… I don't think this is a dream… God, I wish Marina was here, she could explain it way better than I could, you know I'm more the weapons guy than anything."_

"Yeah, well, I just had a ghost fly inside me and then explain to me that reality means nothing but my deepest fears mean everything, so…"

_"Well that certainly seems interesting, I… Wait… did you say a ghost flew inside you?"_

"Yeah… he slimed me…"

Sheldon suddenly made what sounded like an excited giggle.  _"That's great! Actual physical contact! Can you move!?"_

"...Yeah?"

_"That's great, Callie, save some for me!"_

"...Ok? I thought you literally just said you're more of a weapons-"

_"Ok, anyway, back to what I was saying…"_ He cut her off.  _"I'll continue looking into this supposed dimension that we're in… and if we are really separated from our own reality… then we can't count on the Splatoon for help. It'd definitely explain why they're not answering."_

"And we'll also need a way out once we find Marie… this'll be fun…"

_"Yeah, it will! You and I, we're like a team right now! Agent 1 and Agent 5, partners in crime!"_

"Hey, save it, you crab, don't forget that my cousin is still missing and I'm a bit desperate at the moment…"

_"Right… sorry… I'll be in touch…"_ He hung up.

Callie rolled her eyes and hung up as well, as she pressed on. She moved down through the mansion, pointing her flashlight in all sorts of directions like usual. It wasn't too much longer before she came across a door to the backyard, and finding herself curious, she stepped out.

To her dismay, she had stepped right into a graveyard. Not feeling comfortable at all, she was about to walk back in, when she saw what the gravestone closest to her said.

**Marie Cuttlefish**

She audibly gulped, going up to it nervously. "Marie…? No, no, no, no, no…"

She was unable to believe it; this must be a trick of some sort, right? The ghost did mention that fear means everything here. She looked around at the other gravestones, and somehow, things only got worse.

**Marina Ida**

**Pearl Hime**

**Bridgett**

**Jessica Murdock**

**Dylan Schultz**

**Craig Cuttlefish**

Shaking, she looked around at them all multiple times, seeing that all of them had the same date of death; today, from her understanding. "No, no, no, no, no…" She repeated, talking to herself. "T-That can't be real… I-It's an illusion… it's… what...?"

She noticed the last two, which seemingly just popped into existence in front of her when she wasn't looking. They of course had the same death date as all the others.

**Sheldon Shellendorf**

**Callie Cuttlefish**

She stared at her own grave in confusion for probably a full minute, shaking the whole time, deep in thought. The silence was only ever interrupted by the sound of dirt shifting behind her, and a rather… feminine groan. She immediately turned around to the sound.

To her horror, what looked to be a decayed Inkling corpse, wearing Marie's Squid Sister outfit, was currently crawling out of the dirt in front of her own grave stone, and her sights were locked directly on Callie.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Callie screamed, falling down and quickly crawling away.

Marie's corpse crawled toward her with big desperate movements until she was completely out of the dirt, and she then stood up, looking down at her.

Callie was still crawling away desperately, constantly repeating "Oh my god!", practically frozen in fear otherwise. And again, things only got worse.

Out of everyone's grave except for Sheldon's and her own, each member of the New Squidbeak Splatoon was currently crawling out of the dirt, all of them heading straight for her. She couldn't do anything but watch in fear as they all stood up before her, staring her down with their decayed eyes.

"Nope! This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real!" Callie continued, her hearts pounding.

"...Boo!" Marie's corpse suddenly responded.

A high-pitched scream suddenly escaped Callie's mouth as she desperately stood up and bolted off running. She ran past them back inside the mansion, and Marie's corpse watched as she left their line of sight.

Marie turned to the other zombies, who were all staring at her, even Cap'n Cuttlefish, as if they were waiting for orders. She gave them a simple nod.

The corpses of Bridgett, Dylan, and Jessica nodded back and suddenly pulled our their usual weapons, before giving chase to their target.

* * *

Callie ran through the mansion desperately until the zombies presumably couldn't catch up at all. "I mean… they're just zombies, right?" She said to herself. "T-They're slow. Zombies are slow. I'm fine… I'm fine… Holy shit, I'm fine…" Noticing that her hearts were still racing, she sat down by the wall to calm down. "It's not real… this is all a trick… just my fears…"

She repeated this to herself to help calm herself down, and just as it was starting to work and as she was starting to relax, she heard the floor creak down the hall. Quickly becoming nervous again, she gulped and stood up, pointing her flashlight toward the sound. "…H-Hello?"

Nothing. No footsteps, no ghosts, no other sound other than her own terrified breathing. Again calming herself down, she turned back around.

She was met with a loud feminine shriek as her flashlight focused on Bridgett's corpse that was apparently behind her, showing her rather nasty teeth. She screamed and turned around yet again to run away, only to see that Dylan and Jessica leaped into the hall, blocking her path. The lights on their Hero Headsets were both blinking as if they were losing power, and Jessica's cape was flowing behind her as if there was wind in the mansion.

"Um… hey, Three! Little while, no see…" Callie said in a very bad attempt at befriending the zombies.

Jessica only snarled in response.

"Welp, nice catching up, but you're freaking me out, so-!" She suddenly turned around and blasted a small strobulb light in Bridgett's face, which instantly caused her to flinch, and then kicked her aside, once again bolting off running.

To Callie's horror, however, the three Agents didn't limp after her like normal zombies would; instead, once Bridgett got back up, the three actually  _ran_ in her direction, giving chase. Callie looked behind her once she turned a corner just to see this.

"Oh, that is not fucking fair!" She yelled at them as Jessica was already getting close. Jessica leaped in the air, diving at her, but Callie was able to improvise a strobulb in her direction, distracting her enough that she completely missed Callie and flew past her, hitting the ground with a thud and rolling into the wall.

Dylan was the next one to reach Callie, and immediately attempted to use his Hero Shot against her as a blunt weapon. She blocked it with the Poltergust nozzle as if they were in a sword fight, and desperately kicked him away, pointing the strobulb at him and once again blasting a small flash to stun him as well.

Then Bridgett arrived again, managing to catch her off guard. She walloped Callie in the face, and then grabbed her, pushing her all the way through a door and into another room, which happened to be the foyer again. She thrashed against Callie, her arms swinging in big dramatic moves as she hissed in her face.

Callie was eventually able to strobulb flash her again, and kicked her off, seeing that Jessica and Dylan were entering the foyer to rejoin the fight. Dylan dived at her, but to Callie's surprise, she was able to reach her legs up and swiftly kick him out of the air out of pure reflex, sending Dylan hurling into the first floor of the foyer.

"Woah! Holy shit, that was aw-" Callie started, only to be interrupted as Jessica and Bridgett attacked her together. They thrashed against her a little, and the next thing Callie knew, she was also picked up and thrown to the bottom of the foyer, landing awkwardly next to Dylan. "Son of a…"

Dylan immediately lunged at her, grabbing a hold of her to hold her still. Callie, despite her best efforts, was more worn out at this point and felt unable to fight back. Things only got worse again too.

The door to the hallway behind them slammed open, and Pearl and Marina crawled in with their own zombified groans. Unlike the three combatant Agents, they were acting more like proper zombies, and were slowly crawling toward Callie as she struggled against Dylan.

For whatever reason, them acting like actual zombies freaked Callie out more than the faster ones did. "Nope! No! No no! Stay away, please!" She begged, unable to escape Dylan's grasp.

Marina grabbed her leg to force her down to her knees, and Pearl reached up to hold her waist, also holding her down.

"Shit! MARIE!" Callie yelled desperately.

With all three zombies piled on her, she was absolutely unable to fight back, and soon, Bridgett and Jessica jumped down to the first floor themselves. Bridgett walked up behind Callie, and swiftly brought her Octo Shot to the back of Callie's neck, instantly knocking her out.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

Sheldon was still down in the bunker, investigating further into wherever the hell they were, trying desperately to find answers. Eventually, however, to his dismay, he heard a small alarm go off on the screens for just a couple seconds, and he looked up. It was the alarm he had rigged to go off if Callie were to become compromised.

"Uh oh…" He rolled back to where he kept his radio, turning it on. "Callie? Callie, can you read me?" No response. "…Callie…? Shit!"

Panicking, he then went to grab something, well, anything he could use for self defense, which turned out to just be a random wrench. "Dammit…" He sighed. He then started to make his way out of the bunker, climbing up the ladder, when suddenly, he became distracted by one of the powered down monitors in the room turning on all by itself.

He looked at it. Static. "Um…" He hummed, dropping back down the ladder and going to turn it off. "Weird…" He shrugged it off and was about to leave again, but as soon as he turned around, it turned on a second time. He slowly turned back to it.

On the screen was what at first seemed to be a static picture of an isolated well in a wooded area, everything a depressing tint of light blue, and a static corruption on top of it. Sheldon stared at the screen in confusion, now nervous. He looked around. "…Is there a ghost in here?" He called out. "Because this isn't funny…"

After a couple more seconds of nothing happening, suddenly, the TV showed what seemed to be a young Inkling girl crawl out of the well, her ink black and her hair completely covering her face. Then, to Sheldon's dismay, she started heading straight for the camera as soon as she was on her feet.

"Um…" Sheldon nervously backed off and went to leave the bunker, only to notice that strangely, the ladder had disappeared. "What the-" Getting more and more nervous, he looked back at the screen to see that the Inkling girl was still walking toward the screen, getting way too close for comfort. He held up his wrench as if the girl could walk out through the screen.

Then, to his surprise, the girl  _did_ crawl out through the screen, phasing through the glass as if she crawled through, before falling to the ground below. Scared out of his mind, Sheldon made a strange terrified squeal as he suddenly threw his wrench at the girl in self defense. "Back, monster!"

The wrench flew right through the girl, and she looked up at him as if she was silently judging him.

"Um… hi?" Sheldon finished. "Can you… please not murder me? And also put my ladder back? I really need to find my friend…"

The girl only responded by suddenly teleporting in front of him, now in a standing position. Sheldon made another terrified squeal as he tried to get away in vain.


	10. Callie's Mansion - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Faced with an ever-growing world of nightmares, Callie and Sheldon must pull their last cards in order to save Marie.

**Later**

Callie finally came to again, her eyes slowly drifting open and blinking as her vision cleared. She groaned, in lots of pain where she got hit, and as she tried to move, she quickly realized she was tied up. "Hm…?" She struggled against her ropes. "Shit…"

She looked around. She seemed to be in some kind of… secret altar room, and she was propped up against the wall. Then, to her dismay, she saw that Sheldon was nearby, unconscious and also tied up against the wall. "Sheldon!?" She struggled against her ropes some more. "Sheldon! Hey! Buddy! We gotta get outta here! I… dammit…"

"He can't hear you…" A female voice said. The same voice she had been hearing throughout the mansion, the one that sounded strangely like her own.

Callie looked. There was a woman with a hooded robe over her head, standing in front a painting of Marie, her back facing Callie. Or, least, it seemed like a normal painting, except for the obvious fact that it was animate, with Marie actively slamming on it as if she was trying to escape.

"M-Marie?" Callie asked, terrified. "Marie!"

"Marie, on the other hand, can hear you… she just can't do anything about it…" The woman continued.

Callie stared at her. "…W-Who are you!?"

The woman hesitated. "…I'm you. I'm me." She then moved her shoulders a little in a small dance. "I'm everything you wanna be."

"Don't fucking play games with me…" She said angrily. "…Is… is that… really Marie? O-Or is this all just another illusion?"

"Oh, everything here is an illusion. Nothing is real in this world. But… yes… this is really Marie. Trapped for eternity."

"...Let her go!"

"No." She replied casually.

"...Did you just fucking 'no' me? I said let her go!"

"No."

"God fucking… if you don't let her go right this instant, I'm going to-"

"No."

"Stop 'no'ing me!"

"No."

Callie took some deep breaths to calm herself down, deciding to change course. "I… look… there's… gotta be another way we can settle this… I… Please, I just want my cousin back…"

"No."

"Please…" Callie started tearing up.

"...No."

Then she growled. "You say 'no' ONE MORE GOD DAMN TIME AND I WILL-"

"No.

She let out another big angry growl in frustration, struggling desperately trying to escape her bonds. "Just wait until I get outta here, lady! Your face is about to look like it went through a fucking meat grinder!"

"Really? You'd hurt your own face?"

"I… what?" Callie looked at her.

"You think I only  _sound_  like you?"

"...Why  _do_  you sound like me?"

The woman took off her hood, and turned around. Callie's eyes widened. It was… her. A perfect copy of Callie, in her complete Octarian outfit from her time in Octo Canyon, brainwashing goggles included.

Callie leaned against the wall, getting unpleasant memories just from seeing the outfit again, on top of the shock of seeing a second Callie. "…What… the… fuck…?"

Octarian Callie stared at her, her shades flashing their lights. "This world… is the ultimate embodiment of your mind. Your fears. Your… ego. Of course… who do you think would be the villain in such a world…?"

Callie stared back at her, more memories of her time of Octo Canyon racing in. "…Myself…"

"Mhmm…"

"Then… why are we in a haunted mansion? Exactly?" Callie asked.

"Because you had a fear of them as a kid. Remember?"

"...Right, I don't really remember, but alright… and… why is Sheldon here?"

"I… don't actually know." Octarian Callie admitted, looking at him. "He's… he's a loose end…"

Callie looked at him, then back at her clone. "…Alright then."

"...Any more dumbass questions?"

"Um… just one… if… this world is just an embodiment of my fears and whatever, then… are we really even here? Like… am I dreaming? Is Marie really here? Is Sheldon really here?"

"...You are really here. Yes. So is Marie. Sheldon is… like I said, he's a loose end, so… I don't even know with him…"

"I'm so confused…" Callie breathed, tearing up again. "I just wanna go home… with Marie…"

"You can't go home…"

"Why not…?"

"Because I won't let you."

"...Please…"

"Look at yourself. Look at us." Octarian Callie walked up to her. "You… are weak. Your whole life, you've been the odd one out. Compared to Marie, you've always been nothing. She always upstaged us, you know this. She upstaged us at the dance club. Who needs the Squid Sisters as a pair when people can just have Marie, right?"

"You don't mean that… we… we're meant to be the Squid Sisters… we were always meant to be a duo…"

"No. You've known this ever since we formed the Squid Sisters. The feeling has always been there, that Marie is better than us, and we will never, ever live up to her. Well… finally… all of your negative emotions, your feelings toward Marie, your time with the Octarians, it has all joined together to form… me." Octarian Callie motioned to herself. "I am the embodiment of your dark side."

Callie stared at her with infinite anger and some fear in her eyes. "…Just… let… Marie… go… now…"

"Or you'll what?" She pointed to Callie's bonds. "You know, I took care of Marie so that we could flourish on our own. So that we could blossom into our own person! Without all these bullshit Squid Sister lies!"

"Please… let her go… we can… talk this out…" She began crying.

Octarian Callie scoffed. "And of course… when things get rough… you turn to begging and crying. Typical Callie." She turned her back to her again, walking toward the Marie painting. "Trust me, kid, when Marie is out of our lives, we'll finally be able to unlock our true potential! We'd get to… take over the world! Yeah! We'll sing over all of Inkopolis with just Bomb Rush Blush! Or something…"

Callie squinted at her in confusion, wondering if that was really her evil villain plan.

"...But no matter." She turned back to Callie, not exactly paying attention to her surroundings. "First, we finally kill Marie. Together. If you just stop whining and begging about what you really want, then you'll be able to see that we're better off without her. Then we'll find happiness on our own! …Are you still listening or do I have to go on my villain monologue again?"

Callie didn't seem to be listening however. She was instead focused on… something else.

Octarian Callie snapped her fingers. "Hey, dumbass, I'm talking to you! If you really wanna- ow!" She was interrupted as a wrench suddenly flew into her face, cracking her goggles a little bit. "What the-!?" She was interrupted again as she was hit by a baseball bat, and she went flying back through Marie's painting, phasing right through and disappearing.

Sheldon, who was the one who somehow escaped his bonds and knocked her in, dropped the baseball bat. "…Wow, that was badass of me…"

Callie looked at him, then at the ropes he escaped, then back at Sheldon. "How did you…?"

"It's… right. Lemme explain." He went up to untie Callie's ropes. "So… I was thinking… that… I'm pretty sure now that we're in some kind of mind prison. Right? Are you following?"

Callie rubbed her wrists as soon as she was free. "No…"

"...It means that we're trapped in an embodiment of our own minds. Kind of."

"Well, yeah… I think I got that…"

"This whole time, we've been going up against our fears. Because that's one of the stronger emotions. Fear. But then I realized… that if we can sort of… think hard enough, we can…" Suddenly, a basic Splattershot appeared in Sheldon's mind. "…summon things to our advantage, instead of our fears. Kind of like a lucid dream, almost."

"I don't think this is a dream…" Callie said, looking around. "I mean… I can't fucking tell anymore…"

"It's true that we still don't know exactly how we're trapped in our minds, yes, and I don't think it's exactly a dream either, but, that doesn't mean we can't use it to our advantage if we can." He helped her up. "So come on. Do what I did. Summon a weapon. We're gonna save Marie right here and right now."

"I… ok…" Callie closed her eyes and focused. "This is our mind… we can make it whatever we want…" She told herself. A few seconds passed, however, and nothing happened.

"...Come on, it's not that hard."

"Shut up, I'm concentrating…" Callie put a couple fingers to her temple area, her face grimacing as she tried her hardest to summon a weapon.

Sheldon sighed, looking at her in an almost embarrassed way. "…Come on, Professor X, you can do it."

Callie then grunted and gave up, still no weapon in her hand. "I can't! Ok!? I'm too… stressed out! I need to save Marie!"

"How are we supposed to-?"

"Look, I still have my Poltergust, alright?" She grabbed the nozzle.

"That was built to capture ghosts, and now we're aware of much more physical threats here that  _aren't_ ghosts! So, that honestly might not be too much help."

"Jesus, you were the one who sent me in here with it!"

"That was back when presumably our only threat was ghosts!"

They then suddenly hard a banging on the door, causing them both to jump and scream. Someone was trying to tear it down, using a blunt weapon.

"Shit!" Sheldon yelled. "Hurry! Summon a weapon! Please?"

"I… I…" Callie tried to say, as they both noticed the door was actively being torn through by an axe. They backed away.

They watched as whoever was chipping away at the door managed to chop a decent hole in with the axe, and soon, the face of zombie Dylan was peering inside at them. "Heeeere's Johnny!"

Callie screamed a little, and as they saw that Dylan was now reaching his hand in to unlock the door, Sheldon decided to just grab Callie's hand and lead her away.

"Come on, we've gotta go!" Sheldon yelled, and the next thing they knew, she was tossed straight into Marie's painting, again phasing through and disappearing.

* * *

**Inside the Painting**

For a bit, everything that surrounded them was just whiteness. Pure, blinding whiteness, as their eyes continued to adjust to the new world around them. Callie blinked and looked around, holding her hand in front of her face as if that'd help block out some light.

It took a bit, but soon they were able to make out where exactly they were, and it wasn't really what they imagined when they imagined jumping into a painting like this. They were… on the roof of the mansion, if the mansion was dramatically increased in size to be way larger than it already was, and was floating in a strange orange void instead of planted firmly in the woods. Thanks to the larger mansion size, the roof they were on seemed almost like a battlefield size.

As Callie looked around and surveyed her surroundings, she noticed that Sheldon was luckily still there right beside him. She sighed in relief.

"You alright?" Sheldon asked.

"Yeah… I mean, this isn't exactly what I imagined would happen if I jumped headfirst into a painting, but alright, I'll take it… this whole thing as been weird as hell already anyway…"

"You still haven't summoned a weapon…" Sheldon continued, standing up.

"I'm trying, alright? It's not exactly easy to… wait a second…" Callie looked ahead, feeling like her hearts skipped a beat. "Oh my god…"

"Callie?" Marie was there, standing on the rooftop there with them, even if she was standing a bit far away. "Callie!? Is that you!?" She called to her.

"Marie…" Callie breathed, before running forward. "Marie! I've been looking for you!"

Marie was also running forward, them running after each other like a cheesy movie scene on a beach. "I've been stuck on this rooftop for so long, I-"

 _"Not so fast."_ Marie's sentence was interrupted as Marie was suddenly grabbed by an invisible force, seemingly in a choke hold, being held up in the air.

Callie stopped in surprise. "Marie!?"

 _"Take another step forward and I choke her to death."_ The voice of Octarian Callie rang out through the area.  _"I control this world just as much as you can."_

"Please, don't do this! Let her go!"

 _"You're so pathetic…"_ Suddenly, Octarian Callie appeared in a puff of smoke, revealing herself to be physically holding Marie up in the air by her throat. "Scared little girl…"

"What do you want!?"

Octarian Callie stared at her. "…I just want you to embrace your dark side, girl. Seriously, we've been over this… did you not listen to a word I said?"

"I'm not doing shit for you… I'm saving Marie and we're finding a way out of this hellscape…"

"There is no way out. You're in  _my_ territory. You'll go where I want."

"You piece of…" She grabbed the nozzle from her Poltergust and then ran forward with the intention of beating her senseless.

Octarian Callie sighed. "…Let's go, DJ."

Suddenly, all in an instant, Callie was sent flying back as a massive metal object magically lifted from the ground, picking up Octarian Callie and Marie with it.

Callie, who landed awkwardly, grunted, shook her head, and then slowly stood back up to face whatever just popped out of the ground. She sighed in frustration. "This place is fucking persistent…"

Floating before her was the completely operational Octobot King II, golden fists and all, with DJ Octavio once again sitting at the driver's seat.

"It's time to D-D-DROP THE SEA BASS!" Octavio announced as he brought his wasabis down on his DJ table, turning the discs like usual. "I'ma remix your face and then your brain again, girly." He said, staring Callie down.

"Callie!" Marie screamed, now stuck onboard the machine, still being held hostage by Octarian Callie.

Callie stared down the machine, silently challenging it before she suddenly dropped her threatening glance for a more concerned one. "...Wait… How did Four fight you again?"

"Callie, back away!" Sheldon yelled from a distance, watching that Callie obviously had no idea what she was doing.

"Can it, Sh-" Her sentence was interrupted as she was suddenly whacked by one the massive golden fists, and she was again sent flying backward, landing with a painful roll nearby Sheldon.

"Callie!" Sheldon yelled, going to check on her.

"Ow…" Callie replied simply.

"Don't you see yet what you're up against?" Octarian Callie called out. "You're too weak to challenge me! And I have all the backup in the world!"

Callie groaned, slowly getting back up. "…You and what army?"

"Oh, you want an army?" She scoffed. "I've got plenty of that."

The next thing they knew, an entire army of monsters was rising from the ground. First, they could see the zombies of the New Squidbeak Splatoon climb out as if they were climbing through dirt, followed by an entire assortment of Octarian zombies, creating a chorus of groans. Then, another army of ghosts appeared, creating a chorus of demonic laughs.

Through the crowd, which was being led by the NSS zombies, they could see more specific monsters, such as the girl that crawled through Sheldon's monitor, a grinning clown holding a massive collection of balloons, Frankenstein's monster, multiple axe murders, aliens, and other demonic creatures.

"Holy mother of god…" Callie gasped, her eyes widening.

Sheldon sighed and stared at Callie in annoyance. "You had to ask…"

"...I think Splatoween came early…"

"Yeah…" He sighed more deeply. "…Except actually just kicking back and celebrating Splatoween would be much more relaxing than this…"

"Agreed…"

They watched as the army lined up, and Octarian Callie grinned from the massive machine. "I have a whole world filled of your fears, Callie… don't think you can defeat me. You and Sheldon… are all alone…"

Callie ended up staring down the army, shaking, absolutely terrified. "W-What do we do?"

"...I'm… thinking… because yeah, she's right, we're pretty alone here…"

She gulped and grabbed her nozzle. "Well, whatever we have to do… it's not gonna be sitting and doing nothing… we have to save Marie…"

"Agreed…" Sheldon took a breath, preparing himself. "I can't wait until we're out off this hellscape…"

The two stood side by side, silently preparing themselves in silence now, Callie taking deep breaths and gripping her Poltergust nozzle tightly, before they slowly stepped forward.

Octarian Callie grinned a little bit, watching them walk straight to their imminent deaths. "Idiots…" She muttered to herself.

Callie and Sheldon continued slowly walking forward, to the army, as if they were walking to an execution, before suddenly, a voice broke out through the area, as if from a microphone, stopping them both in their tracks.

"You're wrong about being alone, though."

Callie and Sheldon looked at each other, both recognizing the voice, as they turned around. "…Oh, thank god…" Sheldon sighed, smiling a little.

As if from nowhere, a massive stage had appeared from behind them, and on top of it, standing by microphones, were non-undead Pearl and Marina, in their full-on traditional Off the Hook outfits.

"Woo!" Callie cheered in surprise, also smiling.

"Who said a world made out of your mind had to be filled with just your fears!?" Pearl called out enthusiastically. "Now, you ready to rock the undead!?"

"You'll always have your friends to back you up!" Marina added.

Callie and Sheldon both watched as from the stage, more non-undead members of the New Squidbeak Splatoon appeared from nowhere, and leaped off, landing nearby Callie. Bridgett and Dylan were the first ones, Bridgett wearing her Deepsea Metro outfit, and Dylan wearing his complete Hero Oufit. Dylan looked right at Callie, giving him a reassuring smile.

Callie smiled back, and then watched as Jessica also leaped in confidently, her Agent 3 cape flowing behind her.

"Three!?" Callie blurted to her.

"Mhmm…" Jessica mumbled.

"Geez… it's been a minute since I've last seen you!"

She turned to her. "Yeah? Where have I been in the real world then?"

"Um… something to do with the Underdogs… you know… your vigilante whatever…"

She shrugged. "Sounds about right…"

Then, appearing next to Jessica, Cap'n Cuttlefish walked up, and somehow, some way, was walking on his own without needing a cane.

"Gramps!?"

"How are you, young lady?" He hugged her.

She hugged back tightly. "I missed you! And… you're walking normally!"

He broke the hug. "Well, I'm just an illusion, really, so I can do whatever I want…"

"Right… but still!"

Bridgett looked around at them, preparing her Octoshot. "Alright, gang's all here…" She then compared their numbers to the massive army of monsters they were about to face, however. "…I think we'll need more though…"

"Right!" Marina called out. "Don't worry, we've got plenty!"

Callie then heard the sounds of marching surrounding them, and she looked around. "…Holy shit…"

"This world isn't so bad after all…" Sheldon smiled.

An entire army of New Squidbeak Splatoon members, made out of many clones of the existing ones, was just summoned behind them, and one look made it obvious they were now matched to the army of monsters.

Octarian Callie, who was watching everything from the Octobot King, was at first amused, thinking she still had the upper hand. But once she saw the massive army of New Squidbeak Splatoon members, her smile dropped. "…No…"

Marie, who was also watching, ducked down in confusion, very much questioning reality. "…What the fuck is happening…?"

"It's just a bad dream, sweetheart…" Octarian Callie told her sarcastically, before calling out to her army. "Kill every last one of them!"

The army of monsters then began charging forward, not holding back.

"HAPPY SPLATOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!" Pearl called out as loud as she possibly could, which caused the whole arena to rumble and already seemed to shake up the army of monsters.

Then, at that moment, the army of the New Squidbeak Splatoon also rushed forward, with Callie up front, leading the charge, and soon, the two factions erupted into a full on war.

The Octobot King remained stationary above the battlefield, Octarian Callie watching the chaos. "…This is a lot like Splatoween, isn't it? All these monsters, I mean… yeesh… I mean, I'm pretty sure I saw Pennywise the dancing clown down there…"

"...So… what are you hoping to accomplish here?" Marie asked her.

"I just want Callie to embrace her dark side. Once she does that, we'll finally be able to get you out of our lives…"

"So… this whole world is an embodiment of our minds…?"

"Yes…"

"And… you're an embodiment of Callie's dark side?"

"Mhmm…"

"And… am I dreaming?"

"No…"

"Fuck… none of this makes any sense, though…"

"It's not supposed to, it's a big illusion world. Me, I'm an illusion. You, Callie, and Sheldon are the only real ones here…"

"...Why Sheldon?"

"I don't know, he just kind of popped up… Seriously, I've already been over all of this."

"Sorry, just one more question… um… are we in another dimension, or…?"

"I don't know."

"Fuck…"

"Is that all?"

Marie stared at her. "…Um… Just one last eenie teenie tiny question…"

"...Ok?"

"...Can I just go home please?"

Octarian Callie groaned before deciding to ignore her and turning back around, checking on the battle below.

The mansion roof was still erupting into absolute chaos, with many copies of New Squidbeak Splatoon members facing off against undead creatures, and many things were happening at once. For instance, one version of Jessica managed to pull the head off of a Frankenstein's monster, and was now kicking it around at other monsters like a soccer ball. Elsewhere, a version of Cuttlefish was currently whacking a zombified version of himself with his cane, and elsewhere entirely, two versions of Bridgett and Dylan had apparently gotten bored of fighting and were currently making out to the side of all the chaos.

Two versions of Pearl and Marina, the ones that spawned in on the stage, were singing music -along to the whole thing, which was somehow weakening the army of monsters. After one song concluded, they looked at each other.

"You're doing great, Pearlie!" Marina smiled at her.

"Thanks, babe…" Pearl said. "But… I did randomly have one great idea… I think it'll help our side out a bunch."

"...If it involves nudity, I don't want in."

"Oh, don't worry, this ain't that." She cleared her throat, did some mental preparation, and then suddenly pulled out her massive killer wail.

"Woah!" Marina backed up in surprise.

"Shit!" Octarian Callie screamed, having seen that. She knew exactly what would happen now.

Pearl got behind the killer wail, licked her lips a little, and then suddenly activated it. "BOO-YAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

For some reason, the killer wail had a much larger blast radius then a usual killer wail, and immediately, large amounts of the monster army were actually destroyed, while another good portion was just weakened.

"NO!" Octarian Callie screamed.

"WOO!" Callie also screamed when she realized what happened.

Large amounts of the army that were farther away still remained, however, and were still actively trying to murder everyone they could see. Callie herself ended up dodging an attack from a small army of ghosts, and she swiftly countered with a strobolb flash, stunning most of them, before she moved to quickly suck multiple of them up.

Octarian Callie, meanwhile, was just pissed off. She gritted her teeth, while Marie just continued to sit in confusion. "…DJ." She muttered.

DJ Octavio looked up at her.

"...You're up."

He smiled and once again brought his wasabi to the DJ table.

The next thing everyone down on the battlefield knew, the Octobot King was currently flying down, scraping along the ground, crashing into as many New Squidbeak Splatoon clones as it could, running them over and taking out many.

"Holy shit…" A version of Bridgett said, before turning to run. "Everyone, RUN!" As she said that, she was immediately run over.

This carried on for a good while as Octavio targeted any enemy units he could see, and was taking out good amounts. Eventually, however, a version of Dylan was actually able to jump aboard the Octobot King, and began wrestling with Octavio for control.

"No, stop it, it's mine!" Octavio whined.

"Not if I steal it, it's not!" Dylan responded.

The struggle, however, only made the situation somewhat worse, as now, the Octobot King was now flying in random directions, and was hitting people much more randomly. Anyone who was in its path were quickly run over, except for a few swift Jessica versions that were able to dodge out of the way, and any ghosts that could just phase right through it.

Callie, who was still in the middle of the chaos, using her Poltergust to suck up as many ghosts as possible, looked at the Octobot King, seeing the chaos it was causing, and how many people it was taking out. "Holy shit…" She attempted to get to potential safety, when she was suddenly met with the Inkling ghost girl that could crawl through TVs, her long black hair still covering her face. "Ew… ugly…"

The girl just stared at her, standing still, silently challenging her.

Callie wasted no time flashing the strobulb in her face. "Flash!"

To her dismay however, the ghost didn't even flinch, presumably because of her hair.

"...Oh…"

The ghost then suddenly teleported closer to her, causing her to scream a little and back off, flashing more strobulbs in her face. Each one, of course, did nothing, and the girl slowly walked toward her, even teleporting around just to confuse her, including behind her.

Eventually, after Callie turned around to face her again, the ghosts hair that was blocking her face parted itself a little bit, giving Callie a good look at it's ugly face and void-like gray eyes.

Callie felt a strange sensation upon seeing her eye, but nonetheless saw this as an opportunity to stun her with her strobulb. Strangely, however, the Poltergust nozzle didn't launch a strobulb light at all; it instead fired a plunger, which latched to the ghost's face. The ghost, incredibly caught off and confused, reached up to grab it in vain.

Callie, who didn't even know the Poltergust could fire plungers, was also surprised. "What the…?" She then figured it was probably another strange thing that could happen in this world, and decided to just suck up the girl. The girl put up a surprisingly good fight, and was using her fingers to stay latched to the ground, but eventually, was of course forced to give up and fly feet first in the nozzle, disappearing silently.

She smiled a little in victory, when suddenly, she was just about ran over by the rampaging Octobot King as it slid right by her, which sent her flying from the wind it was creating alone. She flew backwards through the air, before she landed quite painfully on her back, right on the Poltergust. "Ah!" She yelled, rolling onto her stomach. After she stood up, it didn't take her long at all to notice that the Poltergust was smashed upon impact and was spitting out some strange green slime, which prompted her to quickly pull it off and toss it aside. "Ew ew ew!" She yelled.

The Poltergust then erupted into sparks and set on fire, burning in front of Callie. Callie stared at it, sighing. "…God dammit…" She then looked around, and to her dismay, it seemed that their side was ultimately losing the battle, given that there were more monsters hanging around than New Squidbeak Splatoon members. Even the versions of Pearl and Marina that were on the stage singing had been scared off by monsters that had enough of them and decided to end their concert.

Then, finally, the Octobot King's random rampage came to a halt as it collided with the stage, erupting into flames as a part of it exploded. Callie took a relieved sighed as she saw this, leaning down a little to catch her breath. At least now, without Octavio, things could be a bit easier for them… right?

That was only until Callie realized that Marie was on board. Her eyes widened, and she immediately took off running toward the crash site. "Marie!?" She called out her name multiple times.

As she arrived, she quickly saw that while Octavio was nowhere to be seen, Marie and Octarian Callie both survived and were crawling out of the wreckage, even though Marie was still under Octarian Callie's custody.

"Marie!" Callie attempted to run to her, but was stopped as Octarian Callie again grabbed Marie by the throat.

"Nuh uh…" Octarian Callie said, threatening Marie's life on the spot for Callie to watch. "Just because this world is an illusion doesn't mean I can't end her life right here, right now…"

Callie looked around. Many zombified versions of the New Squidbeak Splatoon were closing around on them in a circle, locking her in. She sighed a little when she realized that what had been happening to all of their allied NSS fighters; they had probably been turned into zombies themselves somehow. Then, things only got worse when she saw that Sheldon was being hostage by a zombified Marina.

"Sheldon…?"

"S-Sorry… they got me…" Sheldon sighed. "We're in trouble…"

Callie stared down Octarian Callie, accepting defeat. "…I…"

"You what?" Octarian Callie replied, still holding Marie in a threatening position. "You ready to give in?"

Callie didn't respond for several seconds, thinking over what she wanted to say. From what it looked like at the moment, they lost the battle.

"We can finally kill Marie…" Octarian Callie smiled. "We can be done with the Squid Sisters thing… we can be our own person… without being held down by her… don't you understand that?"

Marie just rolled her eyes a little.

"I…" Callie then had a realization. She collected herself. "…You… know what I realized…? Just now…?"

"Hm, do tell…"

She stared at Marie, then back at Octarian Callie. "…You don't want to kill Marie. Not really."

"Then why am I about to pull her head off?" Octarian Callie replied.

"...Because you're maybe a bit upset at her… I guess… but you know what? You've had the opportunity to just kill her like multiple times all night and you haven't done shit to her…"

Octarian Callie frowned a little, loosening her grip on Marie a little.

"And I think I know why…" Callie continued. "Because you love her… we love her… she's everything to us… and we would do anything to protect her… isn't that right…? Dark side or not, you know…?"

Octarian Callie didn't say anything still, but Marie could tell that her grip on her was gradually loosening as she relaxed.

"Look…" Callie continued some more. "I've… been through hell in this world just to reunite with her… I just explored a haunted mansion with stupid looking vacuum on my back…"

"Stupid looking?" Sheldon replied.

"I fought zombified versions of my friends… I jumped through a painting and I fought an army… I had to put up with all these weird-ass fears of mine… I mean… hold on… look at this…" She pointed at the grinning clown with the balloon, who was among the crowd of monsters. "Is that… Pennywise the Dancing Clown? From that one book? Because that is honestly a new level of weird… this whole night has been so weird… Like… we had to put up with shit like that…"

Sheldon, who was looking at the clown, realizing he was the one scared enough of him to even spawn him in, nervously chuckled a little.

Callie sighed and rolled her eyes. "Basically I went through this entire Splatoween mindfuck-fest… all just to save Marie… because I love her… and I think that you love her too, is what I'm saying…"

Octarian Callie continued staring at her for several seconds, silently thinking about what she was saying. She then turned to stare at Marie instead.

Callie gave her a reassuring smile. "…Please…"

Finally, after several tense moments, Octarian Callie finally unhanded Marie. Marie dropped to the ground, catching her breath, and at that moment, the army of fears that were surrounding them started slowly crumbling to dust, finally disappearing.

As a matter of fact, everyone that was on the arena, with the exception of Callie, Marie, Sheldon, and Octarian Callie, and including the Octobot King machine, were all crumbling into dust. Finally, the illusion was collapsing. Sheldon, who was being held hostage by Zombie Marina still, was finally let go of as soon as she disappeared as well, allowing him to freely look around himself.

Callie looked around in all directions, watching as all the illusions faded away with a slight smile on her face, before she turned back to Octarian Callie. She was the last remaining illusion. To Callie's surprise, there was even a tear on her face, slipping out from her shades.

"...I… take it we're done here…?" Callie asked.

Octarian Callie, however, also looked somewhat conflicted. "…I… I don't know… I… think so…"

Callie nodded. "…Good…"

However, this of course didn't change the fact that Octarian Callie was indeed still her dark side, and soon enough, she was able to snap out of the emotions she was feeling from Callie's little speech, and suddenly gave an angry grunt. She grabbed Marie again. "No… No! She has to die!"

Callie, having half expected such a turn, suddenly punched Octarian Callie right in the face, breaking her shades. She immediately let go of Marie again, reaching up to feel the glasses.

"...Son of a…" She muttered, suddenly looking much weaker.

Callie, realizing she seemed to be having a reaction to the broken shades, pulled them off entirely, revealing Octarian Callie's eyes, and then threw them on the ground, stomping on them.

Octarian Callie, now without the glasses, turned pale, and suddenly fell down, breathing slowly.

"...All I did was take your shades." Callie told her.

"I… think it's because those shades… did bring out a lot of your dark side…" Sheldon analyzed.

"...Right…" Callie realized. "Oh…"

Octarian Callie, who looked like she was literally on the verge of death, looked up at Callie. "…This isn't over…" Then, with her last words, her eyes slowly closed, and she herself also crumbled to dust, ending the last of the illusions.

Finally, it was over. Finally, they had a moment to reunite. Callie turned to Marie, who still overall looked shaken. "…Marie?"

Marie suddenly lunged forward and latched onto a Callie in a hug. "…I love you… so much…"

"I-I love you too…" Callie replied happily, holding her close. "I've been looking everywhere for you…"

"I know… I heard…" Marie broke the hug, looking at her. "I'm… so proud of you…"

"I… I…" Callie replied, trying to find the words, feeling like she was about to break down into tears. "…Thank you…"

Marie did break down into tears, and hugged her again, resting her head on her shoulder. "…C-Can I ask you something…?"

"A-Alright…"

"...Do you… feel overshadowed… by me…?"

"I…" Callie hesitated. "…Yeah… sometimes…"

"Because… I sometimes feel overshadowed by you…" Marie admitted.

"...You… do…?"

"Of course… I mean…" She sniffed and broke the hug again. "Look at you… you're prettier… you're more talented… just look at Bomb Rush Blush compared to Tide Goes Out… it's so much better… I mean, sure you're more of a clutz than I am, but…"

"...I… Marie… you don't have to feel overshadowed by me…"

"But I sometimes just do… and… you've said before about how you think I'm a much better Agent than you, but… you just fought through a fucking haunted mansion hellscape illusion world just to save me while I sat here cowering like a little girl!"

"Yeah, but… I did kinda have a stupid looking vacuum on my back the whole time…"

"Callie, that doesn't matter, I am… so proud of you… you don't even understand…" Marie was still tearing up.

"I… Marie…" She said again, struggling to find the words.

"...What…?"

"I… nothing… I was just thinking that… you know… we do work best as a duo…"

"...Yeah… we do…"

"We both have our own strengths and our own weaknesses… you know?"

"Yeah… we do…" She admitted.

They smiled a little, and now Callie was tearing up herself. Marie raised her pinkie. "…Squid Sisters forever…?"

Callie immediately grabbed her pinkie with her own. "Squid Sisters forever…"

As the girls had their tearful reunion, Sheldon was looking around and studying the environment, noticing that the very foundation of the world they were in seemed to almost be… getting weaker. "…I… think we're all done here… looks like this world is collapsing. Not that I know what this world is…"

Callie turned to him. "So… what now then?"

"Are we going home?" Marie asked.

"I don't know… the way this illusion world is seemingly collapsing in on itself, I'd say that… maybe we'll just collapse w-"

His sentence was interrupted as the entire reality abruptly collapsed in on itself and disappeared.

* * *

**The Real World**

"End the simulation…"

As the computer simulation abruptly turned off, Callie shifted a little on the bed she was on as if she was waking up. The Octoling woman who was running the simulation quickly went over to her and injected a needle in her arm to keep her sedated. "There there…"

The room they were in was a mysterious underground lab, filled with computer screens and lots of Octarian-based technology. Callie, Marie, and Sheldon were all lying down on beds, hooked up to computers that were streaming their consciousness into the simulated reality.

That was all the mansion was; it was a computer simulation, and them being inside it was all a part of the Octoling's test. To see what scared the shit out of them the most. Sure, it was realistic and very risky, since if they happened to die while inside, they would've gone braindead in real life as well, but it was a risk worth taking in her opinion. What these experiments were even for, however, only the Octoling herself knew. And it was her personal secret.

The Octoling went around to make sure that Marie and Sheldon remained sedated as well. As far as the trio would know when they would eventually wake up, all that occurred in the simulation was just a dream, even if they could potentially question the realism of it.

"I'm sorry…" She whispered to Callie, who was currently slipping unconscious again. "That was… quite an interesting adventure you went on, though… not gonna lie, I was entertained."

She then went around and collected ink samples from each of them before she started to prepare to take them out of the lab. She did need them to shrug everything that just happened off as a dream. As she was doing this, though, she received a call. She sighed and grabbed her cell phone, answering.

"...Hey, Pearlie."

 _"Hey, 'Rina! So, I was just, totes like wondering when you were gonna come home from your little business thing, because honestly, Bridgett is driving me up the wall without you here… also Dylan has been coming over, and honestly… I wanna punch him."_ Pearl said on the other line.

"I'll… be home soon, Pearlie, I'm just… a bit busy at the moment…" Marina replied.

_"Right… well, anyway, I find this a bit strange, but ever since you did leave, I haven't been able to contact Callie or Marie, either… Sheldon too. It's like the three vanished. You know what's up with that? Are they with you?"_

"I… I don't know, maybe they're on vacation together again or something." She lied.

_"Right… well, either way, it's kinda strange… anyway. Mind telling me what you're up to at the moment? Maybe I can actually join with you this time because I'm offended you left me behind."_

"Just… working on some experiments."

* * *

**Later**

In the middle of the night, Callie's sedation finally ran out, and she woke up in a cold sweat. As far as she knew, she was just at the mansion, having just saved Marie. One look around, however, confirmed she was just in her room. "…So it  _was_ a dream…?" She thought aloud. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She guessed dreams could be more realistic than she thought after all.

She looked around a bit, seeing that Marie was in the room with her. She then remembered that they were having another sleepover together. Having just gone through an emotional rollercoaster, she slid over and decided to cuddle up with her. What she did just go to, did feel very real to her, dream or not, and she was sure she'd take her conversation with Marie to heart still.

Marie, even if she was asleep, seemed to get a bit more comfortable as Callie cuddled up next to her, and shifted a little in her sleep to cuddle up a little herself.

"Night, Marie… I love you…" Callie finished, before dozing off for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally, this stupid halloween special I have literally been working on all month is done and up, so, hallelujah, I guess. Now that it is finished, I'm definitely gonna go back to focusing on Agent 3: Execution for the most part, and like I said before, I might put this story to the side until that story is finished, so sorry if this story goes inactive for a little while. And of course, make sure you all have yourselves a spooky Halloween! Don't get too high on sugar. Alright, see you around. *waves*


End file.
